WA Perth - Inner City and Western Suburbs

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by MTR, 1st Jan, 2020.

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  1. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    Raphael Park surroundings are preferred but also come at a premium so depends on what stock you are trying to load up on.
    63 Geddes St sold for $1mil, a 1000m2 triplex lot with a worthless house on it.
    46 Berwick St, a slightly rennovated old 3x1 townhouse in a so-so complex on a busy road sold for $428k

    I've seen tiny sub-300m2 vacant blocks being sold for high 300s to early 400s so can't go wrong with dev blocks anywhere between Albany Hwy and Berwick St.

    56 Tuam St was bought for $660k (a simple duplex block). It is now back on the market wanting $449k per block, a bit on the high side but you never know.

    The good thing about Vic Park is the demand for non-apartment end products, only have to look at what some basic villas with not a whole lot going for them are selling for.

    McMillian is only slightly less busy than Kent St but that shouldn't be a deterent, just factor that into the offer price. Berwick St is the 3rd busiest road in Vic Park (After Shepperton and Albany Hwy) but one would be surprised at what the stock on that road can and routinely sell for.
     
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  2. icic

    icic Well-Known Member

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    I think the Vic park public school catchment stops somewhere there or not far beyond it. The school has been ranked top 3 school in WA from year to year, surely its worth something significant in the near future if not now as knowledge based economy becomes ever more important. It was one of the reason we brought the property in the zone.
     
  3. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    That is incorrect. The Vic Park primary school catchment covers everything between Albany Hwy, Berwick St and Kent St so essentially "Vic Park West"

    It also covers a few houses between Albany and Shepperton but leaves out a big chunk between Axon Ave and Miller St

    What stock did you end up buying?
     
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  4. Piston_Broke

    Piston_Broke Well-Known Member

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    In 2015 I wrote:
     
  5. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    I don't follow subi-side suburbs. What's the deal with Daglish?
     
  6. Robotica

    Robotica Member

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    I’ve been looking for a PPOR in the inner western suburbs for a while now. Daglish seems comparatively cheap, you can pick up something liveable on a 600sqm block for under $1m. Not quite as nice as Subiaco/Shenton Park but you’re getting a lot of the benefits of these suburbs for much less (great schools, green leafy streets, great public transport, proximity to city, etc.). In my opinion it's a better investment.

    The Perth Property Show did a good episode on Daglish a few months ago. I feel like the main factor keeping prices down is the quality of the housing stock. In particular, the old apartments along Cunningham Terrace and other areas. Also many houses are close to a major road and/or the train line which would affect the median price.
     
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  7. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    Daglish is a funny suburb and tiny. Mostly it's ok but there is a sector towards the south west end that is a bit rough - not Balga rough but not as nice as the rest of the suburb. Housing Commission has been selling off some of it's assets in that area and they have sold in the 600/700s

    It is very long and narrow so most of it is within walking distance to a train station
     
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  8. Damo93

    Damo93 Well-Known Member

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    Some of the remarks from agents in the area include:
    Daglish is an untapped gem. With Jolimont being further developed, Shenton Park Montario Quarter being further developed, Subiaco being further developed this Jewel in the middle of all the action is going to benefit greatly over the coming years.
     
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  9. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    Don't get me wrong. I think the area is great and it's location with train station is fantastic. It's just a little fickle and some of it is considered the ugly duckling. It wouldn't stop me developing in there though as it ticks a lot of boxes.
     
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  10. radson

    radson Well-Known Member

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    I have always thought Daglish would be a good spot
     
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  11. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    Fixed it for ya :)
     
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  12. pilbrob

    pilbrob Well-Known Member

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    So, I'm pretty convinced that the interest in the inner ring suburbs that's been discussed in this thread is ongoing. Everything I've heard from buyers and agents in recent weeks suggests that there's finally some enthusiasm in the Perth housing market.

    As per the my comments in the main WA thread, I've been looking in Highgate, North Perth and Mount Lawley, mainly for character homes that could be used as a negatively-geared IP. Nothing particularly clever in the strategy, just figuring that character home stock is limited and desirable, and has come down significantly in price - about 35%, when inflation is taken into account - in the last decade, so there should be plenty of potential for upside.

    I'm also impressed by the property buzz in Karratha at the moment, and figure that when the Pilbara towns boom, inner Perth is likely to follow.

    Finally, I like the idea of buying in the inner ring, and then using any equity gains to fund outer ring purchases before the ripple effect reaches there.

    I haven't forgotten the outer ring altogether - I finally got around to building a place in Quinn's in 2019 - but, having focused on outer ring last boom I think the "inner ring first" crowd have the right idea.

    So, here's my questions for the Perth investors in the room:

    1. Are you buying IPs yet?
    2. Which inner city suburbs are you looking at?
    3. Are you planning on doing anything clever with your purchase, or are you being lazy (like me) and buying already-renovated stock in the hope of it running up along with the market?

    Cheers!

    P.S. And thanks again the the posters from earlier this year who seem to have correctly called the inner-city upturn. Plenty of high-yield comments earlier in this thread.
     
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  13. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    Same crowd as main Perth threads but since you asked.

    1. Yep, bought a few this cycle
    2. All <7k from Perth CBD. My pick at the moment is Victoria Park for obvious reasons.
    3. Have a combo of dev blocks and straight forward housing stock.

    I would never buy renovated stock, I'll however buy livable stock that I can rent out straight away with little capex and renno before selling to attract FHBs/OO. I've also bought absolute dumps before but they tend to be a bit more capital intensive to get them to a livable state. At this stage, I am using every dollar of cash I have to acquire more properties rather than spend on existing stock.
     
  14. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    Also Jolimont
     
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  15. pilbrob

    pilbrob Well-Known Member

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    Thanks John.

    Main WA thread is a bit all over the place, mainly focusing on people buying PPOR in Perth atm, rather than anything investor-specific.

    I think the forum needs a few WA threads, there's QLD topics all over the place! :)

    To my mind, the best current play for an investor is inner ring buying for capital growth. Reno or subdivide may add further value if you can find the right property, though I'm not really convinced the value is there now to do this (I think it was a year ago).

    I was looking in Vic Park last year. As I don't live in Perth, I tend to only do my boots on the ground scouting over the summers - kind of wish I could spend more time in town.

    I'm mainly watching Mount Lawley now as a good example of an inner suburb that should indicate whether inner ring is truly on the move. At the moment, the median is unchanging (stuck at 990,000), but this is a trailing indicator.

    My main observation is that cheaper stock continues to come onto the market:

    EOI from $750,000, on Guildford Road: 79 Guildford Road, Mount Lawley, WA 6050

    Offers in the 800s: 129A Central Avenue, Mount Lawley, WA 6050

    Both on main roads, so I'm wondering if people with property in dud locations have decided that now is not a bad time to offload their house.

    Anyone been treading the home open boards the past few weeks? Things seemed pretty vibrant back in late January when I was checking things out. Still a positive vibe? Any coronavirus impact? (last agent laughed when I asked this, but inner-city perth is exposed to a China downturn).

    Cheers!
     
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  16. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    I stick to these areas too for myself and clients. In the past 12mths clients have purchased in Mt Lawley, North Perth and Shenton Park (along with some failed offers in Inglewood, Maylands, Bayswater)

    I haven't seen any foot traffic decrease due to Corona virus but the past 2 Thursdays (which seems to be most popular day for new listings) hasn't produced the number of listings that I normally would see. Or perhaps it's just me not seeing stuff I want to look at :)
     
  17. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    Unlike middle and outer burbs, inner rings burbs are a mixed bag so the median price is useless. On one street you can have a $2mil home and on the same st, a $650k home. Inner ring properties should all be valued case by case basis. No exceptions.

    Land is king, even more so in inner burbs. Busy roads can be factored in to the buy price.
     
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  18. pilbrob

    pilbrob Well-Known Member

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    Hey, I don't really disagree, though I think calling the median "useless" is an overstatement. It's a decent data point for overall suburb trends, though as you infer it's less meaningful in heterogenous areas. Still, if the inner ring Perth suburbs take off as per Melbourne or Sydney over recent years, you'll see it reflected in the median at some stage down the track.

    When I say "watching carefully" I mean keeping an eye on every property in the suburb that is a stand-alone house on more than 400 m2 of land, and then checking the prices when they sell. I'm also interested in the general "vibe", which is why I miss being able to go to home opens in person (online research only tells you so much).

    Last year I was mainly interested in Highgate/North Perth, and almost dropped the hammer on a place near Hyde Park. This year, I personally started to feel their was a FOMO vibe in the air in January, so I actioned the Lawley buy. I'm sympathetic to the idea that Perth was thinking of recovering before the Royal Commission came along. Now, I'm just hoping that coronavirus economic impact/uncertainty doesn't lead to another delay.

    I was talking to someone senior at Rio Tinto today, and they were thinking about buying an IP in Mount Lawley. Doesn't mean much by itself, but I'm hoping the brewing mining upturn results in more executive types looking to spend 1.5-2 million on a nice place somewhere in the inner ring.
     
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  19. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    Dont worry about coronavirus, by all reports, heat, seasonality may kill it. Also talk there will be a vaccine by August.
    We have in the past contained other break outs, so no reason why same wont happen here
     
  20. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    On a side note, I am currently sourcing builders/quotes for my 3 villa development, I am gobsmacked how competitive quotes are, its awesome. These are larger builders.

    If anyone is thinking of developing in Perth maybe now is the time, caveat.... if your numbers stack up
     
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