VIC Maribyrnong as PPOR

Hi all

Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on Maribyrnong as a PPOR.

Currently I live in Middle West of Melbourne in an 1950's weatherboard house that is no longer big enough to meet the demands of family life. I am looking for a new house, with a minimum of 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and preferably double story.

Just by chance I happened to driver through Maribyrnong last week as was struck by how nice the houses were as well as the proximity to the river and nice parks (the new kids playground in Footscray Park is a ripper).

My partner and I both work in the CBD and I feel that for the price range we are looking at ($1 to $1.3 million) you can get a lot of house relatively close to the city (5 to 8km).

As an example the one below recently sold for $1.17 mil and it is a brand new 5 bedroom 3 bathroom and a 672 sq m block.

8 Owen Street, Maribyrnong, Vic 3032

Does anyone know what are the drawbacks to Maribyrnong as a PPOR?

From my limited understanding the negatives that would spring to my mind would be a lack of a train station close by and possibly the quality of the government secondary schools in the area (although I did note that Footscray City College did quite well in ATAR results last year).

Also I know that some of the surrounding suburbs have a less than stellar reputation (i.e. Footscray) but my impression over the last 10 years is that they are slowly gentrifying / becoming more "trendy".

Many thanks!

Malleybull

 

I think the quicker public transport route is to get a bus to Footscray station and then train it from there.

Good advice regarding the trial run at peak hour though, I will look into that Y-man.

I also like the concept of riding into the CBD on a bike along the river. Not saying I would ever actually do it but I like the concept, ha, ha

 

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp...ribyrnong-goes-on-market-20181018-p50aiq.html

Going to be a massive new estate in the coming years, contaminated land that’s needs to be cleaned but will be keeping a close eye on the project, 3km of rivver frontage land will be up for grabs in the next few years.

 

It's an ok area but I prefer around Kensington, Ascot Vale or Moonee Ponds.

 

Wow 6000 new homes is huge!

I wonder about the implications on already chokers Public Transport and Roads in the area though....

 

Yes they are nice areas but out of my price range for the type of house I am looking for.

 

I would personally sacrifice a 5th bedroom for a better location but that's my preference

Ascot Vale, VIC 3032 (+2 locations) Sold Property Prices & Auction Results - realestate.com.au

 

Agreed lack of train is a drawback. The 82 tram to Footscray station is very slow and heavily affected by car traffic. Unsure about buses but suspect its a similar story there. Have you looked at west footscray/footscray? In my opinion only, you could find a really nice house close to trains (and west footscray station is undergoing upgrades incl a turnback which means trains will be empty upon departure so no overcrowding) just a thought to the mix...

 

Often overlooked suburb compared to nearby suburbs that have been mentioned above, train access is obviously limited but this is probably some of the reason you can get more house for your money than nearby suburbs. Great access to Highpoint, one of the better suburban malls going around in my opinion. Footscray will continue to gentrify causing a ripple effect on prices

 

Yeh, pretty much agree with everything you have stated above. I feel like if you can deal with the transport issues (which are bearable in my opinion) you can get a really decent house for around a million which is good value (and I am by nature someone who loves a bargain, ha, ha)

 

If Footscray didn't fully gentrify in the massive boom of the last ten years then I doubt it's going anywhere any time soon. Malls are overrated for CG, shopping villages and general walkability add far more value and amenity to an area (and it is something that all the more expensive areas listed actually have).

 

Lot of infrastrucutre spending. Upgrades to trains, $1.5G new hospital, new seddon school etc. It's 5-7km from cbd with 3 train stations. I think in the long term it's got a lot of things going for it. If you look at Seddon and Yarraville prices are a lot higher in comparison.

 

Footscray will never have the character or charm of yarraville or seddon with the types of dwellings or the shopping villages that they have, especially the yarraville village. But the apartment blocks that are slowing going up here and there in Footscray will continue to bring a different type of person into the suburb with plenty more land that could be utilised for more high rises in the future. Footscrays shopping and eateries will continue to rise in standard with more affluent people moving into all of the new developments.

 

As I said, Seddon and Yarraville are closer to the other expensive areas in terms of urban form. Footscray, Maidstone and Maribyrnong are more suburban and sprawly. We'll have to agree to disagree - it's a falling market and I can't see those areas defying the trend now. They were only ever second-best options to begin with.

 

Yeah i agree on the first part for sure. I guess the footscray 'cbd' if you call it definitely is being heavily built apartment on top of apartment. But there are definitely nice pockets in the suburb with 'character' houses a bit away from the centre. .

 

I was at Footscray last week and I noticed that the quality and variety of restaraunts / cafes has improved.
The recent beautification works near the old Siagon fruit market look pretty good as well. It will never match Yarraville for charm (I love the sun theatre) but it is definetly improving.

 

Everyone’s different for me Maribyrnong is one of the best spots in Melbourne, I love the pocket north near running trails around Aberfeldie, high pont shopping centre is great, 5minutes from a grade suburbs like Essendon, strathmore, ascot vale ect.... I just don’t think you get a lot for a million there...

 

There was some talk a while back about the owner of sun theatre opening up a cinema in footscray. Not sure what happened to that!!

 

Check out the link in my original post. That is a heck of a lot of house for 1.2 Mill (fair enough that is actually more than a mill). Great to hear you like the suburb