Norlane West

Hi All,

As Geelong is booming and the property market is so damn hot. With 450k budget, I can only afford to buy in the rougher side of Geelong which is the Norlane West, Norlane, Corio areas.

Does Norlane West demonstrate a good potential for long term capital growth? From what I know, the rental yield is only around 3.5% which is relatively low.

Keen to know your thoughts!

Thanks in advance.

 

We bought in Corio 2yrs ago and have had great tenants with rents going up. But prices have moved a little since then. Look for brick houses on >600m2. Watch out for big unit blocks on the street or close to the two major highways.

 

Rather than that area, I would rather look at Lara. Closer to Melbs and demographic seems nicer.

 

That's great to hear you have great tenants. I assume your 'watch out' has a positive connotation?!

 

Will check it out. Thanks

 

Haha i have a look every now and then and there are a few big unit blocks to avoid. PM me if you want any more help

 

Well....finally after a looooong time being locked out, i got the confirmation email and can post again!

Well, i live in Norlane West, i bought here in 2010 on a new build as a townhouse on a half-size block. Paid $260K for the 3-1-1, and to be honest i am quite happy to still be here. I'm in Dunloe Ave, a very quiet street which is kind of amazing as it's just the next street away from busy Thompson Road, but during the day if you're home there's hardly any noise at all.

A newer unit built about 5 years ago (43A Dunloe) sold recently when advertised for $350K-$380K....well it sold quite quickly for $385K. Now i know the capital growth for my place in 11 years isn't crash hot in that context, but i guess a new build in 2010 with the then $36,500 FHBG, it was probably well above the suburb median, and land is the value, rather than the building of course. Just down the road from me are two newer units built maybe 2 years ago, i'm pretty sure they commanded about $380 a week rent when advertised.

But i guess the upshot is, there's still a larger home owners component in Norlane West, it's sort of like a bit of an overflow from some of Bell Park and Bell Post Hill with a number of European migrants taking up residence here in the 60's and 70's. There's very few commission places aside from perhaps Lockett Ct, and it's still a very handy place to be. In a lockdown situation, you're 5K's from all of Corio Village, Separation St, two Aldi's, and i still reckon an under-rated aspect of life in 3214 is the number of dual carriageway roads we have here. Compared to the snarls of traffic in other areas of Geelong, it's great here. I can assure anyone, it's a pretty good place to live. You'd reckon i'd stay here 11 years if it was no good?

 

So what are the general demographics are like in Norlane? There are still some great deals along the princess hwy.

 

ArcGIS Dashboards

 

Those ArcGIS dashboard maps are kind of fascinating, and gee it puts my little part of the world in kind of a bad light i guess. I still find the disadvantage thing rather odd though, I mean the fact that Norlane (and Norlane West) is only a few kilometres removed from the greenery of Manifold Heights and Newtown to me doesn't suggest there's a Berlin Wall stopping residents of the North availing of the amenities and employment hubs elsewhere in Geelong. And my $500 2004 Magna drives me to my job as effectively as a $60K new Tonka truck would.

I guess the reality is what it is, but i can't help but think that the perpetual narrative about the Northern suburbs being 'disadvantaged' is sort of just telling people that's their excuse to just not work or be disfunctional if they live out this way. In 2 weeks i'll have been in Dunloe Ave for 11 years, and i've never experienced anything dramatic that's been in any way concerning to my life here. Just my take anyway. I will say that other areas have more drama. But then again, in the 3219 postcode there's been maybe 6-7 deaths in the last few years, including two just off Ormond Rd in the last 8 weeks or so. Those deaths (one established as not a murder) happened just hundreds of metres away from houses worth $750K or more.