VIC Geelong

@Gwynneth they are putting STCA on lots of things... even things that are not possible. Buyer beware.

 

Also researching Geelong and surrounds so thanks all for opinions and to @Dave3214 and @Beelzebub for the local insight, much appreciated

 

One competition from an investor noted!

I'm in the market at the moment. So we might come across sometimes.

 

Which part of property cycle do you think Geelong is currently in, as Spring selling season is underway? HTW said most of VIC regional cities are at 9 o'clock. Would love to hear PCers opinion on it. Will be on the ground in a week or 2 to start hunting.

 

This is a massive price for this house in Brown St East Geelong, just off the corner of Ormond Rd and McKillop St.

Will Ainsworth - Ray White Geelong - Timeline | Facebook

$855K at auction for this house here, which is a californian bungalow in an area which is fairly close to town, and about 500 metres from Garden St. But it's one of the highest prices i think for East Geelong. An old renovator on a large block in Connors St East, which is somewhat closer to the CBD sold for about $750K a year ago or thereabouts.

But prices like these, i reckon do make Newcomb look like a real bargain. Both are the same postcode and Newcomb is only 1500 m further down the road. Newcomb's houses can be got for almost as little as 1/3 the price of that one in Brown St. For the negligible distance, it's a massive differential.

 

@Dave3214 what kind of impact do you think the the Ford closure will have in Geelong/Melb? The media really played it up but can't see it adversely affecting house prices much at all.

 

I've seen that property clock, although it seems when you have smaller regional cities in it mentioned in Victoria instead of Geelong i wonder if it's creator even knows if Geelong exists.

Geelong though has several markets of various strengths, much like Melbourne, which is fascinating for me being a life-long resident and Norlane buyer, where i planted myself in 2010.

That house in Brown St, that sold at auction for $855K, that's just massive for a fully renovated house that's not in Newtown or on the waterfront. It would have to be close to the highest sale price of a standard size block in the suburb. It was $105K over the reserve, and the $750K was the mark that Connor St place sold for a year or so earlier, on a slightly larger block closer to the CBD and Eastern park/beach. And that was a seminal number too. There is a house with a huge block for sale at 125 garden St, right on the cusp of the bend as it folds into St.Albans Rd, on almost 1400m2 that has a price tag close to 1K a square metre, which is now seemingly the price level for land in the East Geelong area, at least for houses inside maybe the Humble St precinct.

125 Garden Street East Geelong Vic 3219 - House for Sale #120840705 - realestate.com.au

This shows comparable sales too, the one at 2/391 Myers St is fascinating, a build maybe 10 years old on a compact block, all of a grand total of 500 metres from Newcomb! Think about that for a minute....you are just a short walk from one suburb to another, and the price difference is almost double??!! In Geelong?? I've never seen anything like that before. Yes it's got more cachet, but for heaven's sake the same school is in the catchment area, and you're to all intents and purposes in the same place. Unbelievable.

So East Geelong seems to be about 12 noon, Newcomb may be 9pm, and my good old Norlane might be about 7pm. Norlane's a bit similar except on a slightly larger distance scale, it's a few kilometres further in that prices double the median. But for non Geelong-ites the realities are this. If you're a genuine Geelong resident, who lives and works locally (as the majority of Geelong people do) the importance of 'walking distance' is overrated as far as i'm concerned. Many people just drive to where they want to go, and it honestly makes almost no difference if the commute if 5 or 10 minutes. Perhaps there are the new buyers of East and West who bring a capital city culture of walking locally...the ones who are buying and moving from Melbourne properties, who can cash in and buy for half the inner Melbourne medians, but for me, geez...i just get in my car anyway, God wouldn't have invented cars if i was meant to walk! I'm not sure if it's a bubble or maybe inner Geelong's values starting to reflect the true values compared to the Capital, but for sure, if people are prepared to fork out number between $600K and $900K for houses in these gentrified areas of Geelong, then i reckon plenty might be happy buying for 1/2 to 1/3 the price just a few more minutes out.

That's the thing, it's not like comparing say Hawthorn to a suburb 10 k's further out, it's like comparing two streets in the same Melbourne suburb, except they are differing in price by a mad multiple. It almost has to be seen to be believed. I'm stunned to be frank.

 

Not too much to be honest. Geelong's plant i think had only a couple of hundred staff left, some of whom will remain with the development sector remaining in Geelong/You Yangs proving ground etc. A lot of the parts manufacturers have already closed as well.

Target's decision to close it's Geelong office in 2017 though is a more foolish decision though. They plan of all things to move to Melbourne, yep makes sense, move to much more expensive real estate and add more congestion to the capital city. And meanwhile Cotton On, a competitor to Target is adding jobs and expanding massively along Shepherd Ct and Separation St. Hopefully several former Target people will be able to find work there. The two companies are in the same suburb, North Geelong, and it's quite ironic how one feels it needs to leave in order to 'increase to pool of employee talent' by moving to Melbourne, while the other has expanded and indeed has many working there who drive FROM Melbourne. One look along Separation St is illuminating, they have massive staff car parks now.

With Cotton On too, they are planning on establishing a DFO/warehouse in the Avalon Airport precinct, which again will help offset Ford's closure, as Avalon is just 15 minutes from Geelong's Northern suburbs.

 

I think any negatives from the decline of manufacturing in Geelong would be heavily outweighed by the growth of the insurance, health and education sectors in the area. In any event - the success of Carbon Revolution shows that even manufacturing is showing resilience.

 

Some news for G-Town, with potential new neighbors in one of these places that franks the mid $600K's that are par for the Myers St course.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au...t/news-story/46cd6a6ff3dbd78477dce2bc90053fc5

It also has a good variety of suburbs, and probably highlights too the value a lot of the Geelong region offers. That Digby Ave place on a large block is pretty hard to top at $365K, and the Corio one on 778 m2 so close to the Village and a 50 minute trip to Melbourne is also notable. For Geelong a 77% auction number is pretty good, but not sure if it's just 7 of 9 or a bigger number.

 

Never mind about property clocks and such. East Geelong and Newcomb are different suburbs.
They have different proximity to the Geelong CBD (less minutes on foot to walk to work or head on foot to dinner and drinks etc). They also have different land use zonings. For instance, a if you look around East Geelong, quite a lot of the residential properties are being used as businesses. Mixed use permits etc. There's a lot less of that going on in Newcomb.

Depending on where you are in East Geelong, you could be 1km from a railway station.

Many of the homes in East Geelong have period features and large spectacular gardens. The kind that are on the Open Gardens Circuit (the ones you pay an entry fee to, and then pay more for a coffee and more again for a slice of gluten free dairy free cake). The kind of area where the family cat is so pampered and delicate that it literally cries on the porch during open gardens of neighbouring properties due to being scared of all the passing foot traffic, and begs the first passer by to ring the doorbell of its home so its owners will realise it is frightened and let it inside. Literally. I have been that passer-by on many an occasion and rung that doorbell.

For reasons such as these, the buy-in price between these two suburbs is different and likely always will be. Both suburbs are awesome, for different reasons.

 

That Digby one is right alongside the driveway entrance to Belmont High and backs right onto the school. And like most infrastructure of its type, you want to be close but not TOO close!

Agree the Corio one is interesting.

 

I guess there are people of all interests and types, but just a question, or an observation. Am i maybe strange in that walking distance means jack for me, because i'll generally drive to where i want to go? I admit when i lived at my Mum's place in Watsons Rd i'd walk to the shops there which were 300 m away, but as an adult i drive to Corio Village or Bellpost if i'm needing to go somewhere. Hell, i drive from the P.O at North Geelong to NQR because carrying back a bunch of el cheapo groceries is too much like hard work for me!

I guess there's a mentality of being of the local community in terms of preferences, the appreciation of finer things and beauty. I'm just the opposite of that, even in my own place.

Perhaps given all that, Norlane is probably my true spiritual home...lol. I guess i was born in this suburb so maybe it's destiny. The ones who have a greater appreciation of the finer things of life will congregate to places of like mind.

 

No you are not strange, however walking distance of transport and going-out amentities is becoming a very big deal. Why? Well if someone wants to go out and have a drink, they don't have to worry about the whole drink-driving thing, and also the hassle of parking the car in a busy area. Furthermore, as the cost of living rises, one of the first things to go is the car. It's a big expense, running a car. In the metro areas, there just plain is not enough parking near the stations. So being able to walk to them is a big deal.

 

Yay, we make front page of the Addy, and also in the Herald Sun today..

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au...p/news-story/1bca16c13d51f35e8edc9545b66e65db

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...p/news-story/8e91a97cef78b5128ccbb4f9b603a199

Got both links there depending on what link works for people. Maybe the word's getting out i hope....i would like to see my place get a kick along in value to match up with the rest of Geelong which is still rapidly outpacing that of my home suburb.

 

There was just a segment about Corio & Norlane on Ten's news too tonight.

 

I can't read it. Any chance you could copy and paste the text ?

 

Google the headline

Poor Tony in the comments section- "And this is why it is getting even harder for locals to be able to buy their first home, the GREED of investors and internationals and the government state and federal does nothing to help young families who just want something to add some structure and stability to there lives."
Imagine if he lived in a Cap city!

 

Yep..saw that. I'm the David in the 3rd comment, made that around 7am this morning and surprised to see nobody else commented beyond that. If only Tony realised that you get a lot of bang for your buck for the low $200K's that can buy a house here, with the amenities of a large city and the capital just 50 minutes away. Even with Chinese/interstate investors, there's plenty available on good size blocks for less than the median of around the $225K mark. I'm kind of hoping not for long though....

But it's still a hell of a lot more affordable than many Geelong suburbs further in which are 2-3 times the price, but are only 8-10 minutes drive further in. Not a bad compromise i think.

I know it's not quite apples with apples, but 50 minutes from Sydney sets people back a poultice nowadays doesn't it? And unlike the far flung north-west and north-east suburbs of Melbourne, you're still close to the coast as well in these Geelong suburbs.

Thanks House for cutting and pasting the articles, i am a Hun subscriber so i can see those, and not sure if everyone can see the links i post.

One significant indicator is that time on market in Norlane i think now is a rather speedy 39 days now. That's quite a ways ahead of some other Geelong suburbs. Been a while since that time on market for this area has been so short.

 

Guys please provide some feedback on Marshall and grovedale.
I am interested in those places as it's close to the Railway station.