VIC Heidelberg West, Heidelberg Heights 2020

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by Orion, 2nd Jan, 2020.

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  1. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    I know the stigma around these suburbs, have driven through them and yes they are the pits. Scary characters walking the streets, run down dumps, council houses, car bodies and so on.

    Having said that, after seeing the enormous growth suburbs like The Pines/Frankston North, it makes me think this area really has potential. This spot is completely enveloped by $1m suburbs on all sides (Heidelberg proper, Rosanna, etc).

    You can get new 2 bedroom townhouses for around $600-650k and 3 bedders for $700-750k. As far as I know this is unheard of 10kms from the city. This older 2 bed villa just sold for $530k (probably in the worse location). I've seen a street of council houses with a brand new townhouse and a new Merc in it's driveway. This place is changing. We also just saw a new 4 bed build sell for over $1m.

    If you try to buy the same thing in any neighbouring suburb you'll pay +$200k more for the same thing.

    Have they sold all the council houses? And if so, does that mean we are, what, 5 years away from this place really changing?

    I know Fitzroy/Northcote/Thornbury/Preston is just getting too expensive for the inner North types, this suburb is next in line. Lucky to get a decent 2 bedder unit in those places for the price of a villa here.
     
  2. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    Another tidy example, 2 bed 2 bath new-ish townhouse just sold for $565k.

    Would prefer walking distance to Rosanna station but that's amazing value for 9kms from the CBD.
     
  3. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    Cross the main road (6 streets over or 1.4km drive) and you pay $1.1M for a 3 bedroom villa in Heidelberg. It's a nice villa but is pretty close to the train line.
     
  4. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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  5. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    Wow - interesting story.

    It does raise the question, how long until the gentrification happens?

    If I get something that is CF neutral this is less of an issue.
     
  6. Orion

    Orion Well-Known Member

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    Video on the area



    The TL;DR is:
    • Townhouses give house-like performance but with good depreciation and better location to CBDs (compared to say a house in the burbs for the same money).
    • HH/HW is excellent value and will boom in the next 1-2 years.
    • Lists of top suburbs.
     
  7. TMNT

    TMNT Well-Known Member

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    i dunno if I agree with that, maybe in the short/medium term.....

    and no i didnt watch 1hr50min video
     
  8. Triton

    Triton Well-Known Member

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    Don't underestimate the impact of not having a train station or line. No point being close to the city if the transport options are poor, which is the case for these suburbs
     
  9. Bunbury

    Bunbury Well-Known Member

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    I take your point about the train station but the distance from Heidelberg Heights to Heidelberg train station is about a kilometre. The lack of a train station hasn't hurt the capital growth of Balwyn or Doncaster over the years.
     
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  10. Triton

    Triton Well-Known Member

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    They have awesome schools that Asians want. No decent schools in HH or HW. I think parts of HH bordering Heidelberg, and Ivanhoe are really nice, but they are already expensive.
     
  11. Bunbury

    Bunbury Well-Known Member

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    Yeah. There certainly is no competition for Balwyn High School in HH/HW.

    I agree that HH is overpriced at the moment. People are speculating on capital growth if they are buying 4 townhouse sites for $1.2-1.3m.
     
  12. Luca

    Luca Well-Known Member

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    @melbournian has written a lot on the area. It is an employment cluster and if you go online there are millions of info, you can definitely spend days reading. For people following closely yes there is money to be made, however at this stage of the market my take is that is more a developer area not a buy and hold. Yes the area will change, a lot happening, however the usual question is when & holding cost. Is it the best area where you can invest? Unit wise, is it really cheaper than heidelberg? https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-heidelberg+heights-132036802 This one was advertised for $600/$650k. https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-unit-vic-heidelberg-132208614 Now for $130k more I will definitely buy in Heidelberg. To me schools & proximity to railway station are the 2 critical factors in Melbourne if you want to play capital growth.
     
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  13. essendonfan

    essendonfan Well-Known Member

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    IMHO - grew up in Eaglemont, use to spend time working in Northland, playing basketball at Olympic Village 15 years ago. It was the pits then and not much has changed, drug and crime intergenerational welfare issues. A lot of commission flats with crime. Not to mention some horrendous schools.

    The issue for that area, the Olympic village was built for the 1956 games and nothing has really come of that area.

    When you compare to suburbs like Heidelberg, Ivanhoe, Alphington, Eaglemont. People will be happy to rent in that area, to access transport and good local schools. As a renter, it would be a no brainer.

    La Trobe University etc is easy to access via car, so not really that drawcard of needing to be next door. Regardless of which suburb in that area, people need a car.

    A lot of stock to come online from the new papermill all the way up to Ivanhoe, with new developments. Perhaps once this is done in 3-5 years, the price point could push out to HH?

    Then I feel like if that area was to reach a price point, people would prefer to move out to beautiful suburbs a further 15 minutes away. Rosanna, Greensborough, Watsonia - with some really nice O/O houses.
     
  14. Bunbury

    Bunbury Well-Known Member

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    How long until HW is less of this...
    [​IMG]
    ...and more of this...
    [​IMG]

    I would never live there but the area is changing. All you have to do is drive through HW and see the change it is undergoing and how the developments and re-builds replacing the old commission housing are improving the area. The same could be said for the dodgy parts of Preston near Northland.