How are the regionals doing?

No idea of what's really going on on the ground anywhere, but I thought I'd pop in and quickly spruik Rockhampton (oh, and Logan, Elizabeth and the Central Coast, while I'm at it).

 

Not sure of that analogy @spludgey ??

 

lurking around regional vic myself, in particular some of the smaller towns (sub 10k population)
-there is not much stock or diminishing stock for sale
- no rentals available
- increased interest from melbourne purchasers

sounds strange but im thinking big growth is just around the corner which will destroy the current good cashflow opportunities!

 

Thank you. I won't be moving there as I live close by (farm) but hopefully someone does enjoy living there when its renovated.

 

Rosedale VIC is nice. But you can't get anything under $200,000 now that doesn't have multiple issues. Gorgeous place to live. Great primary school. Multiple options for High school. Cheaper rates in the Wellington Shire compared to Latrobe City. Loads of expensive new properties in town as there is a new housing development. Three bed houses start off in the rental market at around $280/wk. Minimum buy in in this area is around $240K. This town is on the train line, and is accessible for people. It's also got a great culture of community (festivals, car shows, big Halloween festival, arts and craft markets). Town pool. Town population around 2,000pp.

Yallourn North is another town that to buy in isn't too expensive and there is a biog rental demand. Also, schooling options ect. A bit hilly! But, rentals in this area are hard to find and there is a lot of people that want to live out in this area. They wait for rentals to come up. Town has some takeaway options a beautiful pool and lots of natural beauty around to explore. But, you need a car not on the train line. Buying here can still be done under $200K and you have rents in the $270-310 range for that. This is because it's seen as slightly higher on people's wish lists compared to Moe or Newbourough as it's quieter given the population. Town population 1500 people.

Churchill VIC. Has been not seeing capital growth for YEARS. It's starting to now. A 3bed, 1 bath place will still rent for under $250/wk. You can pick up properties in this area for under $200K. But, the rental prices haven't really taken off yet. Great town, university, schooling options. Supermarkets, takeaway stores. No train line. Limited public transport. But otherwise nice country town and very livable. There are a few new estates going in. The town is expanding. Population around 5000.

There are some small town gems out there.
@strongy1986 where have you been investigating?
From a curious cat that finds real estate interesting.

 

stawell, ararat, orbost and anything near mildura has very solid rental return for low buy in - good deals are getting very hard to find

ive been through rosedale a heap and its nice but maybe a tad expensive - probably would aim for sale at the same pricepoint
never really thoight aboit yallourn north - any reason to invest here over morwell?

 

We told you so...many times..... and there's plenty of legs left in the place. Massive money being invested in mining expansion ...and that means lots of high paying jobs

The thing about these particular types of regionals is that they cannot keep up with the demand for new housing - either for buyers or renters. Just a few hundred people moving there for well paid jobs each year drives things along . Covid and the new work from home arrangements it has created will only accelerate the number of tree changers as well.... so its only going to get harder for these sorts of locations to keep up with demand.

Goulburn will be next, as all the wind and solar farms scheduled to start there in the next few years attract money and jobs... and its very close to Sydney and Canberra, so watch it go gangbusters once people cotton on to it

Central West hotspot revealed

 

I just was looking at towns that are under a population of 10,000 being you were curious about smaller towns.
Both Morwell and Sale are much larger.
Yallourn North beats Mowell on rental vacancy rates. And all three of the towns I mentioned have a slightly different demographic compared to that of the larger towns.
Sale is interesting, but there have been reports of a lot more crime in Sale in the past couple of years. Crime rate spikes in Wellington I guess it must have put me off.

 

Been buying in Traralgon for years now. All the properties are all hassle free performers and is quite probably the best investment town in Australia, in my view. The return figures on the latest investment there are just mouth watering. Prices do gradually rise over the years, but slow and steady.

 

Hi @UNITS4ME, we are investing in Traralgon too. I take it you have units over houses. Can you tell me about units in Traralgon compared to houses?
Interested! Probably because we have stuck to houses & I'd love to hear about the other side.
We are meeting a REA today to stick a sold sticker onto a Traralgon property today!
Very happy with our choice.

 

Oh, and I'd love to hear about your latest one in T'gon @UNITS4ME. How long ago was the purchase, age of house. Are you doing new for depreciation or older places. Do you buy low, midrange or high? What is your reasoning?

 

Hi there, my handle is just a carry over from the old days of SS forums, but i prefer buying houses over units nowadays i guess. Latest Traralgon purchase was late 2018. A 1970s 3 bed 1 bath very centrally located house. Gave it a bit of a renovation, including a new bathroom and aircons in all bedrooms. We then fully furnished it and set it up as a short term/medium term type accomodation for professionals from elsewhere. Dont really want to go into all the numbers here, but it has proved very successful so far, even during covid times. We include all power, gas, internet etc in the rent, and a local real estate agent manages it. It was hardwork setting it up for sure, but thats what i do. I don't waste my time with tricks like claiming depreciation to make the numbers loo better. Depreciation only defers the tax you pay in my view. I never buy new. Only properties with serious potential, to which i can value add.

 

Congratulations. What did you buy?

 

Your strategy is very interesting to me @UNITS4ME. I'd love to chat to you about it one day. Short term to medium term leasing is something we haven't fully investigated. Feel free to write a post on your experience of this, as I'm sure many would appreciate your prospective.
We have purchased 3 houses this year in Traralgon. I know we are a little crazy! All 3b 1b older properties. We haven't yet settled on the 3rd, but we had the opportunity to stick the sold sticker on the sign yesterday. I can't wait to be able to go through the property and do all the little fixes and have it rented out. The rental market is fierce at the moment and REA are getting between 30-60 applications or property. No 3b 1b homes left now under $200K that haven't been subdivided!

 

60 applications per property...wow!

 

We got 79 applications for our most recent Dual Occ in Goulburn

 

I have got two in my Melbourne property ;-)

 

New article in Tele today with the Deputy Premier targetting redevelopment in 5 regional areas.
We’re for Sydney | Daily Telegraph
Snowy Mountains - Recreation and leisure, 'Australia's Aspen' (70000 hectares)
Moree - Australia's agriculture to the world (5800 hectares) 4000 jobs, agriculture and advanced manufacturing.
Williamstown - New aerospace and defence industries (10000 hectares) 4300 jobs
Parkes - Inland port location (4800 hectares in delivery phase), 3000 jobs, CSIRO also signed MOU to establish office in Parkes
Wagga Wagga - Business/commercial precinct (4506 hectares), renewables, recycling and advanced manufacturing, 6000 jobs

 

Fantastic post, thx. We own an IP in Ballarat and are currently sniffing around thinking of where to buy our 2nd property. Might investigate out your way once we're aloud out to play. Cheers

 

Rockhampton currently has a vacancy rate under 1%. We are seeing a large uplift here in Central Queensland with resurgence in Gladstone and Mackay also.