VIC Herne Hill Geelong and TheHeights development

Hi all,

I have been recently looking at purchasing a house as an IP with 600m+ land in Geelong for sub 400k budget (the closer to 300k the better) and Herne Hill has stood out to be one of the potential choices. I have read previous threads on propertychat and noticed generally positive comments on Herne Hill as a 'safe', 'clean' suburb. Herne Hill (median price just sub 400k) is next to Geelong West (median ~530k) and Manifold Heights (median ~580k) so I believe Herne Hill still has room to catch up.

One thing I noticed is their is the active TheHeights development between the existing residential area in Hennessy and Graylea streets and the Western Ring road. What do you think about the impact of the development on the suburb? I can see that more parkland/playground/sport ground are being created in the new estate which will become public facility once completion, which might benefit the surrounding areas. However, do you think will there be any risks of more supply hence downward pressure on rent for example from such a development?

Thanks a lot

 

It's actually the Geelong Ring Road, and that is a natural 'Berlin wall' which precludes further expansion past it. I can say just from personal experience that when the Westerly wind blows the places in Greylea Grove (which was the western end of Geelong at one point) would cop a belting, i recall delivering a pizza there one day and the wind almost blew the bag out of my hands!

But it would be quite a reasonable place to live i'd say, although there's not much in the way of shops in walking distance. Not that it matters much in Geelong, you'd be only a few minutes to supermarkets in Shannon Ave and Pako, and not too far, maybe 12-15 minutes to the CBD in peak hour. Ring road wise it would be a commute to Melbourne of roughly an hour at regular speeds, and i would suggest that living in this new estate you'd not have too much passing traffic, as nothing will be coming from the other direction, the ring road is the natural barrier.

Given the trend for people to buy in new estates, i'd say this new one opening won't have too much impact on Geelong's prices and rents. Geelong is much longer than it is wide, and many people are taking up residences in the Southern suburbs like Armstrong Creek, Waurn Ponds and even Freshwater Creek, paradoxically from a commute perspective they are further from Melbourne than the Heights would be.

Indeed in the Hun's real estate section, there's an article saying how Melbournites are selling up their expensive capital city places and buying a Melbourne CBD unit as a dormitory place, and a house on the Surf coast for lifestyle. Personally i'd hate to drive 75-80 minutes to and from work, but if you want to, you can i guess...Article is here.

Melbourne families sell up and head for Surf Coast as land sales surge in Barwon region - realestate.com.au

All said and done, it would be a safe place to buy, Geelong's growing and there's going to be the Worksafe head office and the NDIS head office being built as we speak, along with plenty of other large employers. The inner Geelong suburbs are probably more a driver of Geelong's market than proximity to Melbourne anyway, so with them booming at the minute Geelong's a good investment, and from my own experience a good place to live. And for me, commute times are negligible, i work just five minutes down the road from my place in Norlane

 

Thanks @Dave3213, that was very helpful.
I also heard that a new shopping center/supermaket will be available as part next to the Fyansford hotel but that probably will take a while.

 

I am only new to Geelong but didn't take me long to find this cracker little Vietnamese joint in Herne Hill: Saigon Corner Cafe, Geelong - Asian & Vietnamese takeaway restaurant

Sorry can't be more helpful from a property POV ...It does seem like a nice suburb to drive through

 

Thanks CSDS, I like Vietnamese foods as well, so that is a bonus .
@Dave3214 and others, do you know if there are any plan with the unused train track in Herne Hill that runs along side Derby road etc.?

 

I was in Geelong last week
What a change in a few short years
All the development towards Torquay/Barwon Heads
The so called council allowing all of it with little or NO REAL INFRATRUCTURE , traffic and travel times arent what they used to be
I remember when the Grovedale pub was litterally out in the paddocks, the Torquay rd should have been retained as a clear thoroughfare, not built out, the same thing has happened in Leopold and is happening on the Barwon heads rd
Is there a Peninsula link/ring road planned for the future
Lots of area's built in sth Qld have arterial roads, what happened in Geelong ???
So YES, stick to the nth side, inner city (or closer to the ring rd access).

Also for @Dave3214 Things are really moving price wise, on the up and up, so many listing for auction or contact agent these days as they either cant guess how much or are trying to drive prices further up

 

I just saw this article today about potential Geelong house price and the nearby Gen Fyansford development was mentioned as well Geelong house prices set to hit $600k by 2020 as first-time buyers and investors strike - realestate.com.au
Do you think price will go up more for new house/development or generally will drive established houses price up as well?