VIC Bargain hunting in Melbourne's 20 cheapest suburbs

I will be selective in Werribee, visit them after 9.

 

Not long ago, a survey was released ranking Melbourne's 321 suburbs according to liveability
Melbourne's 321 suburbs ranked for liveability

Recently, there was a follow-up article that stated that 2 of the suburbs in OP's post, Jacana and Frankston North are among Melbourne's most affordable liveable suburbs. Sunshine is cited as one of the most affordable yet liveable suburbs but the median price is 487k, more exxy than Jacana and Frankston North
Albanvale and Kings Park mentioned in OP's post are suburbs right next to Sunshine
Maybe they could be the next to boom

So to give a perspective of where these most affordable yet liveable suburbs (according to the article) are
Sunshine is west, 15km from CBD
Jacana is north, 16km from CBD
Frankston north is south-east, 38km as the crow flies from CBD, 51km on the road travel from CBD

Below is some insight as to why these suburbs are considered 'liveable'

Sunshine, Frankston North and Jacana among Melbourne’s most affordable liveable suburbs

Nov 8, 2015Christina ZhouDomain Reporter




Melbourne's most liveable suburbs revealed
From the coast to the CBD Melbourne has it all. Video by Alistair Walsh.

• Where does your suburb rank?

Jacana, Frankston North and Sunshine may not be high on everyone’s shopping list, but they’re among Melbourne’s best value for money suburbs.

They don’t have wide tree-lined boulevards, the houses don’t command million-dollar price tags, nor are they known for their cafe culture – yet they are highly “liveable”.

A liveability survey commissioned by Fairfax Media and undertaken by Deloitte/Tract ranked every suburb according to a set of criteria.

Elzette Bester, 39, and husband Jamie Robertson, 38, moved to Sunshine because house prices in Yarraville were too high. Photo: Alistair Walsh

While the top-ranking areas are also the most expensive, there are dozens of bargain suburbs that punch above their weight.

The suburb with the most bang for buck is a small pocket wedged between Glenroy and Broadmeadows.

Jacana, 16 kilometres north of the CBD, is more liveable than two-thirds of Melbourne’s suburbs and has an affordable median house price of $370,000. It ranked higher than Murrumbeena, Eaglemont and Doncaster.

This three-bedroom brick veneer family house at 10 Rose Street in Jacana offers views of Jacana Reserve and parkland. Photo: Supplied

It’s a desirable place to live, with plenty of open public space and proximity to shopping facilities, public transport and schools, according to the study, which does not take into account suburb demographics.

Research by Domain indicates that the best value for money suburbs – more liveable than half of Melbourne, with a house price below the Melbourne median of $707,415 – are largely to the north and west of the city.

Mark Imbesi, director of Stockdale and Leggo Glenroy, said Jacana was a small and quiet pocket with about 750 homes, mainly brick veneer.

Vendor Natalia paid $557,500 in 2013 for the three-bedroom house at 40 Dulcie Street in Sunshine. It’s scheduled for auction on November 22 with expectations above $770,000.Photo: Supplied

He said the suburb attracted young families and first home buyers priced out of Glenroy because of its train station, amenities in Glenroy and Broadmeadows, and easy access to CityLink and the Western Ring Road.

What helped Jacana’s liveability ranking were its sloping blocks which capture views of Jacana and Johnson Street reserves.

In the west, Sunshine has made its debut in the top 100 most liveable suburbs after making a huge leap from previous years. It has a house median of $487,000.

This three-bedroom house at 39 Rosemary Crescent in Frankston North is marketed as a great opportunity for first home buyers and investors. Photo: Supplied

Elzette Bester, 39, and husband Jamie Robertson, 38, moved from Yarraville to Parsons Street, Sunshine, about five years ago because house prices in Yarraville were going through the roof.

Sunshine wasn’t somewhere the couple initially looked to buy, but they took advice from a buyer’s advocate to consider the suburb.







“[We] decided to buy there based on the growth that we had seen and the diversity, the schools, and the particular area we’re in at the moment is great,” Mr Robertson said.

Ms Bester said the Brimbank City Council updated many of the playgrounds in the area – including Matthew Hill Reserve – and a couple of cool coffee shops popped up in the past six months.

“A best-kept secret of Sunshine is how fantastic all the parks are,” she said.

“It’s been a real pleasant surprise and [the suburb] has definitely grown on us and we found a fantastic community here.”

Tim Watts, Labor Member for Gellibrand, said people who hadn’t been to Sunshine in a decade would be stunned at how much it had changed.

He said a lot of the change was driven by “the virtuous circle” since the $880 million Regional Rail Link project started, including a new Sunshine railway station.

“Off the back of that, you’ve seen a whole range of major projects happening; larger apartment developments, Victoria University doing a major construction development and the Sunshine Hospital [redevelopment].'”

Sunshine offered all the diversity and cosmopolitan lifestyle in a really affordable housing market, Mr Watts added.

Jason Allen of Barry Plant Sunshine believed the suburb’s heritage pocket – with a mix of housing from the late 1800s to the early 1900s – made it a desirable place to live and attracted young families to the area.

”They are spending a lot of money on renovating and extending now, and some of the recent figures for homes in central Sunshine have been $600,000s and $700,000s – which have are everyday sales,” he said.

“And some recent sales have been over $800,000, and they’re not fully-renovated or extended family homes.”

Mr Allen said the agency was also seeing more investors in the area, who were pushing up the market “quite dramatically and changing the area as a whole”.

Ranked 136 on the liveability chart is Frankston North, which is considered liveable because it’s near the coastline with lots of public open space and schools.

Local agent Shaun Walker, of Biggin and Scott, said Frankston North – with a house median of $310,000 – remained affordable over the years because it was considered a lower socio-economic area.

Mr Walker believed Frankston North was slowly shedding its stigma and would improve in years to come as older houses were pulled down and redeveloped.

 

That might be about to change......very soon...

 

Jacana???

Best way to describe jacana is to compare it to Frankston north..
Only difference is that it's closer to the cbd.
All commission concrete small houses.
I know this didn't stop parts of Preston becoming higher in value.

It is also cut in half by the ring road and train lines, with only a small pocket on the pascoe vale road side having easy access in and out - but this side slopes into the valley and is not accessible to the train station.
The more commission side is on the other side of the tracks and access can only be made by driving up to camp rd in broadmeadows, or via fawkner/glenroy. Though it does have a very very unsightly train station of it's own. The shops near by called Olsen place are notoriously bad news..

 

I disagree, Grey Ghost.
Jacana has a lot of brick veneer lowset homes too, they do have some concrete homes as well. Overall Jacana has very few houses on sale at a time. 6-7 at most.

If you look at Google maps, Jacana is bounded by the Western Ring Road, Pascoe Vale Road and Camp Road. Olsen Place is on Widford St in Broadmeadows. Jacana is not near the Olsen Place shops on Widford St. Jacana is very near the large Broadmeadows Shopping Centre. That would be its main shopping area.

 

I understand the area you are speaking about. I was more in reference to the widford st side. I looked at google maps and yes it's not part of jacana. I spent 20 years of my life around there and we always referred to that part as jacana as well. So geographically I was wrong haha! But yes it is true the side you regret do have brick veneer homes. It's the 542 bus route that runs through there..

 

Come to sydney, that is the distance for 500K-600K home prices

 

Sunshine is west, 15km from CBD
Jacana is north, 16km from CBD
Frankston north is south-east, 38km as the crow flies from CBD, 51km on the road trave[/QUOTE]

Can someone rate these areas from best to worst. I'm not familiar with Frankston. But I know jacana still has a bad stigma attached to it. Sunshine used to have it too, not sure if it's as bad now.

 

I was looking at rents in Frankston yesterday and it seems that I am waaay behind. There seems to have been a lot of rental growth in the last couple of years. Also when I put in 3-4 beds, 2 bathroom, 2 cars, there were only 3 properties available for rent at or below $350 pw. I think this is where the growth is at atm and then there'll be more capital growth later.
Meanwhile, I seriously have to speak to PM about increasing rent.

 

We recently bought in Upper Beaconsfield (a PPOR suburb), it has 10yr avg growth reports of 4.2%!!!!

On the plus side vacancy is a myth, and a 500k 4bdrm 22sq fancy brick house should pull in between 500-550pw

Map View of Houses For Rent in Beaconsfield Upper, VIC 3808 (Page 1) - realestate.com.au


But no supermarkets, traffic lights, gentrification, infastructure, ie. any real reason to invest there etc. But seems to more or less always grow in line with Berwick.

 

@Soul do you mean visit them after 9PM weekdays ?
if that is a yes, then it sounds like Liverpool, NSW at nights

 

Do you mean in Campbelltown or in Marsden Park (all in Sydney NSW) ?

 

Anywhere in Sydney, Campbelltown area is at the lower end of that range and Marsden Park area is at the upper end or even out of this range.

 

Warburton is a bit of a stretch.

But of course; everything is always CBD-centric.

The entire workforce does not work there, but you wouldn't know it; based on all the endless "affordability" whinging.

Surely there is actually a handful of folks who choose to live and work elsewhere?

 

Can someone rate these areas from best to worst. I'm not familiar with Frankston. But I know jacana still has a bad stigma attached to it. Sunshine used to have it too, not sure if it's as bad now.[/QUOTE]

I went to sunshine yesterday. Have to say it reminds me of clayton 10 odd years ago although more vietnames eateries. Shopping complex is ok and there's a lot of infrastructure going on. I went around to the houses for sale and there is a lot of construction going on. Saw this porter davis semi detached homes and many others. Again many new devs seems to be semi detached homes as opposed to one in the back and front like you see in the east but i think in terms of distance it's far better than frankston (no offence to anyone). Frankston's advantage is it is closer to the beach.

 

I like Frangers, because it has absolutely everything you need and want in terms of amenities, and also has the beach, it is striking distance to the Mornington Peninsula and only about 35 mins to the City via the freeway.

Sunshine is landlocked and a shoit-hole, dry and windy as hell....just a terrible place...only thing going for it is possibly the proximity to the CBD and possibly the airport ...

Don't know about Jacana.

 

Did you end up letting that frankston place sell @Bayview didn't follow the end of the story from the sommersoft days. Nah man - 35 minutes no way (45 minutes is more like it with tolls). i went to school in Mt Eliza (Peninsula School) late 90s. i know my way around frangers.

 

So suppose you have instant equity or cash up to $325k, would you buy in Frankston or in another place like Werribbee ?

 

Sunshine is a hole now, not sure for how much longer. Yarraville and Footscray weren't too flash not too long ago.

Frankston wins hands down if you like the beach, but what time of day are you driving to or from the city in 35 minutes? Certainly not peak hour Monday-Friday. If I worked in the CBD, I'd rather live in Sunshine than Frankston.

Horses for courses and all that.

 

@juzzy realistically majority of ppl work 9-5pm jobs (how much time the day do you have time for the beach) unless you're up at 6am. and unless your frangers house is close to the beach you won't have time for it unless it's the weekend. It would be easier in mentone as more houses are located within walking distance to the beach.

The only corporate jobs i know are south east water in frankston (although majority of ppl who work there when they used to be in moorabbin) live in mornington, mt eliza and frangers. i mean i am not looking to live in sunshine or frangers i'm only looking to see the places where it is easier to make capital gains or good cashflow