NSW Newcastle 2018

As Tom noted - grab as much land as you can as close to the city as possible (the more 'options' you have to add value to your land/property the better. As a city grows, so does the value of TIME. The less time it takes a human to get to where the action is (work, rest, play), the more valuable the land around it becomes.

Put a tenant in so you have holding income on your site... and let the laws of supply and demand do the heavy lifting for you.

It's dead simple. Don't try and get too fancy.

As Mark Twain famously said - "Buy land... they're not making it anymore"

 

9 Pokolbin Street Broadmeadow doesn't look too bad @tomlemke

 

What about 56-60 Sutherland Street Mayfield as your next site @TylerJamesson ? They are probably wanting big dollars for it though....

 

That 122 Scenic Drive Merewether sold for a bit cheaper than i thought it would go for....did anybody have a look at that one?

 

Wow
House for Sale - 3 Buchanan Street, Hamilton, NSW 2303

 

This ones just exchanged for just under 1.4m, which is $200,000 above the last highest sale in Maryville it cools off 6th April.

16 McMichael Street Maryville NSW 2293 - House for Sale #127683642 - realestate.com.au

The block sold on the 10 May 2017 for $1.1, house was knocked down and replaced with a brand new 4bed home. Once this goes through construction will start on an identical one on the block to the left.

16 McMichael Street, Maryville, NSW 2293 - Property Details

 

Nice price. How about that $2.6m Everton St ? Has that exchanged?

 

Yep that has exchanged with a cool off for $2.8m, $1m over the last highest sale in Hamilton East.

Market update- New builds and quality renovations are still selling well within 5km of the city. Finance is very slow atm with most 5 day cooling off periods being extended to 10 days. Gone of the days of waiving finance with a 66w.

At least 50% of buyers are coming from Sydney in that million plus price range.

 

Tom, I own a 1920s bungalow in Merewether on a 620m block. We’re on the beach side of city road but still a good 10-15 min walk to the beach. We’ve spent a bit on the old house since buying it and the front is now quite nice. Next step is modernizing the back, knocking down the 80s split level extension and doing it properly (open living/kitchen, bedroom with ensuite, under cover deck) I’m estimating $400 - $500k to do this properly and it will turn the house from a 3 1/2 bedroom to genuine 5 bedroom. From what you’re seeing would that sort of investment be recouped or am I risking overcapitalising? I’d be essentially knocking out any possible developer interest once complete too.

 

@Whale_monkey a lot of factors in pricing this, each section of Merewether the prices change drastically. All depends what you want to do if your planning on making it nice for your family and keeping it long term i wouldn't worry so much about re-sale because long term Merewether will continue to do well.

If your wanting to do the renovation and sell in the next few years i would be a little more hesitant depending in what Street you are in.

If you have a Californian bungalow on that block size i would guess that your probably on the eastern side of Morgan Street in Streets like Janet/ Curry/ Ridge Street. I would have no hesitation in spending that kind of money renovating there. A nicely renovated house is going to be worth well over 2million in those Streets

If its in Selwyn/ Wilton/ Morgan it's probarly worth $750k to $1m as is spending an extra $500k you will struggle for it to be worth $1.5m once done.

With the development side of things, i don't know how some of the sites are stacking up for developers, below are a few good duplex blocks. You can see how the price changes drastically the closer they get to the beach.

This sold recently, double block, good location, fairly busy Street for $1,910,000.
63 Patrick Street, Merewether, NSW 2291 - Property Details

60 Curry Street which backs onto the Gibbs brother oval sold for $1,870,000
60 Curry Street, Merewether, NSW 2291 - Property Details

6 Dent Street Merewether sold for $1,450,000
6 Dent Street, Merewether, NSW 2291 - Property Details

17 Lingard Street Merewether sold for $1,400,000
17 Lingard Street, Merewether, NSW 2291 - Property Details

A brand new duplex just sold in Dent street for $1.4m.
26A Dent Street, Merewether, NSW 2291 - Property Details

If you put up just the Street the house is in I will be able to go into more detail, otherwise send me a pm and i can give you some piece of mind weather your going to be over capitalizing or not.

 

Merewether is overpriced In my humble opinion. At the moment, close to the ‘beach’ is the only premium identifier in Newcastle. As the city is built out and folks crave proximity to other things apart from sand, that will change.

Heck just look at the Upper North Shore ie Ku-ring-gai Council . No where near the beach in Sydney, yet commands a massive premium for having the best amenities, a lot of parks, private hospitals, top tier private schools, no riff raff neighbours, blocks size over 800sqm, rail line transport.. it’s about as ‘old money’ and conservative as you can get in Australia.

Australia’s best and worst places to live: Is your suburb on the list?

 

It is amazing how a few streets can be the difference between hundreds of thousands in Newcastle, particularly if you think of the difference in price between suburbs like merewether and adamstown, so in a way I tend to agree (merewether’s price has gone crazy) but at the end of the day many people move here for the lifestyle and the beach is a huge part of that.

Hard to draw a comparison between Newcastle and some of those Sydney suburbs though. Having lived in Sydney for many years it is a terrible place to get around and you really value the amenities available to you in your local suburbs. Most of those amenities you speak of are available to you within no more that 10 mins in Newcastle if you’re in that inner ring (which nicely aligns to being near the beach). It will take multiples of population growth for Newcastle to be anything like that.

 

New street high set for Hamilton North in hot auction
Quick sales in Mayfield show continued interest in the suburb

Just read both of these on FB in the last hour. Looks like the market is still going strong.

 

What do you reckon the build cost was for this one @tomlemke ?

 

I would estimate around $400-$450k build cost for that new build Maryville home. Rafty has sold quite a few of those Paddington Building developments.

 

I would put it a slightly different way - the features offered by Merewether are not a high priority for me. I value proximity to shops, school and transport above being close to the beach, views, or prestige. Keeping in mind that Merewether is quite an odd shaped suburb, with some parts of it further from the beach than my house!

I am even finding Hamilton South a bit bereft of access to facilities - I'd like to move into Hamilton and be within a 5 minute walk of Beaumont st. I am within 2 blocks of Beaumont st at the moment, just the wrong end!

Cheers,
Inertia

 

Agree with you Inertia, however, Beaumont St and the Hamilton Chamber really needs to lift it's game. Beaumont was one of the most well known 'food and dining' precincts in the entire city but desperately needs a makeover.

All 4 major banks have a presence on the strip as does Australia Post. The Chamber needs to do a much better job of attracting quality retailers and food/beverage businesses which will increase the amenity and appeal of the location for both residents and commercial landlords. It has every opportunity to be better than Cook Hill and the Junction with a high walkability score but needs to lift things in the 'coolness' factor.

 

Absolutely - it has certainly let itself go (for about a decade!) and suffered an increase in junkies while the train line was terminating there.... but there are some fresh tenants in the street, and the newer/younger shops are certainly enthusiastic.

Renew Newcastle (Christopher Saunders) has moved out of town now and is operating out of the bell tower, with Beaumont St being targeted.

Cheers,
Inertia

 

Once Milk crates and Juices in jam jars start appearing at cafes on the southern end of Beaumont Street it is time to start buying.

 

LOL!