Buy new apartment for lifestyle or house in Perth / Brisbane for investment?

I understand this might be a stupid question for some people, but it stuck in my head for a while.

To give you background, my wife and I are in early 30's and work in Sydney CBD. We are both working in IT industry, so the income is quite okay ($260k combined)

We inspected one of the new 2b apartment with 20-30 minutes train to the city (Kogarah station) and love it due to its quiet suburb and close distance to everything (our workplaces, beach, supermarket etc.). However, the asking price is $900k. It will be quite a big money for us. However, we will be able to live in it and save rental money, and should be able to rent it out when we wanted to move.

From my own research, I found that this amount of money can get me a house in Perth. I am still researching Brisbane so not sure about it. I heard the land will appreciate while the house will depreciate. This meant the money might grow if we buy in the cities we might not move to in the end (we prefer convenience lifestyle, but that could change).

I would love to know your opinion on which one do you think might be the best choice in our situation.

 

The right choice is what suits you.

For 900k you could buy almost in the CBD of Syd. If you want to live minimalist I looked at one recently that was 600k with a carspace and about 50m2

For 900k you will still get a pretty good house in Brisbane in the suburbs, about similar distance to CBD prob, but transport takes longer, they do not have the great rail network Sydney has.

Perth to me is like going to another country, you would be better off in country NSW, where 900k will get you a fantastic house still probably.

But the time for large CG is pretty much gone from most places, we are in the deflation stage for assets.

Also do not write of Melb if you are thinking of moving, it would prob be second after Syd.

 

Thank you! As of Melb, we actually relocated from Melbourne last year due to dark and cloudy winter there

 

There’s nothing “ wrong “ with buying a place you like to live in .

It really depends on what your aim is . Do you want a PPOR at this stage or do you want to maximise how hard your money works ?

Relevant things ?

Sydney’s at the end of a boom and is unlikely to move for a while . Buying a new apartment in Sydney at the moment , I’d be surprised if you see much capital growth in the next ten years ..

Brisbane is booming . Most people I know on the forum bought in Brisbane a while ago and are now watching from the sidelines as prices go up .

Personally I wouldn’t be buying in Brisbane , but some people still are . You could buy in somewhere like ipswich , 3 br entry level 350-400 , rent 340 . Some people would consider that a good investment . For me it made sense when I paid 205-225 for the same properties not that long ago . I think they can potentially get up to 450-500 , but percentage wise that means you’ve got a lot less to play with .

perth ? Lots of areas aren’t much above where they were ten years and possibly more importantly , there are lots of long term successful pchat members who have bought there in the last year or two. ( or more recently ) and over my 20 years involvement with this forum ( and it’s predecessor ) they rarely get it wrong .

My daughter can’t afford the house she’d like in Sydney , so she now has three investment properties she can afford . One in brisbane , one in Rocky and then the most recent one in perth .

She then has choices . Assuming perth goes up ( it’s what everyone here thinks will happen ) she’ll be able to sell some or all of her IP’s and then afford to buy the house wants in Sydney in a few years time .

She may decide to buy more ip’s.

We bought in perth earlier this year and are thinking of buying more , but just reorganising finances before we do .

It comes down to what’s important to you ,

cliff

 

Thank you so much Cliff for your great insight.
May I ask what would be the easiest way to check the history of the price? Do you use any specific websites? e.g. domain and realestate seems to have the selling prices history of that suburb.

 

Sqm research is my starting point . In their free data I use the asking price as my starting point .

Has this quirky little thing on my phone . Click on the buy data , then back arrow and it displays around 12?years data .

As an example , look at Morley WA and you can see that the current price is below the previous peak in 2014 . Typically prices double in each cycle so personally , I’m expecting perth to come close to doubling before the east coast moves . Nth queen k and would be the only place I’d be looking investment wise on the east coast , but it’s started moving a while ago and I haven’t looked closely for a while .

suggestion RE regional NSW ……

IHMO , no way ….. Has been a completely artificial sugar hit care of Covid and I have real concerns about what will happen when the music stops. We’re looking at a 3-4,times increase in the value of our weekender which we’re about to sell in port Stephen’s ( bought 11 years ago ). It’s not the main reason why we’re selling , but it’s factor .

We may well buy another weekender , but I think anything bought now will in all probability be cheaper in 7-10 years .

regional typically goes up and down . Our place had been on the market for 4 years when we bought it and we literally paid half the original asking price….

cliff

 

sounds like you need to move to London. then you would think Melborne is like Maldives

 

As someone who lives in Perth from a very young age and has traveled and lived all over Australia, this is true, it's got a big country town, with a laid-back, beach vibe plus all the trappings of a modern metropolis.

If we become our own country we would be the Dubai of down under due to our overall disproportionate contribution to the Australian economy.

 

The way ya all go on about how much you contribute to the economy all the time by digging up the resources just shows how many think they are in own country

You will probably become the first AU province of China if we have a major war.

 

I had to say it lol and yes you are probably right on that one!