WA Rockingham vs Girrawheen

I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts on Rockingham vs Girrawheen for capital growth potential.
I looking to spend roughly $350k purchase price and was looking for a freestanding house on a 600+m2 block. I've narrowed the search to these 2 suburbs and I am leaning towards Rockingham for the reason being that I am not placing so much importance on being close to the city now that working from home seems to becoming the norm. I can get a house with the beach, shops, restaurants, cafes, schools and train station all close by for $350k. Girrawheen also seems great value though given the proximity to the city.
Thanks in advance!

 

I would vote for neither in that price range.

 

Haha I was waiting for this response, Where would you buy?

 

Probably a duplex in a more inner suburb - like osborne park. If I had to go land probably I'd go Langford or Thornlie. Maybe Belmont or Redcliffe.

Anyway, lots of better options. And I'll still be very selective even within those areas.

 

Going to struggle in Langford/Thornlie but still possible

Belmont/Redcliffe would be very very hard within 350k

 

Over the long run a 250k house in gosnells / shitsville will out perform a 350k duplex in thornlie
houses are the go

if you need proof - melb. syd, bris

 

i bought a house in rockingham area for 245

but to me i think all these cheap locations will do well % wise

 

Funny was thinking the same

Offloaded in Girrawheen when they were rezoning 2013/14 and made a tidy profit.
But developing seems to not stack up

not a snob, purchased and sold in G, but today you can do better with more research

 

Interesting, thanks for the input. I think I may be biased towards proximity to the beach as that's where I'd prefer to live.

I will start researching some of the suburbs mentioned above.

 

proximity to beach does not always mean growth
Look at median of area and demographics

 

Arrrah the G in KGB. Them were the days.

What about Huntingdale it gets mentioned a lot?

 

Thornlie and Huntingdale seems to have the most favourable demographics relative to the other suburbs; a higher % of owner occupied homes, higher incomes, a 0.4% & 0.6% vacancy rate.

Rockingham seems to be a bit of an outlier, the average resident age is 47 years old (The oldest I have seen out of any suburb) and has very low average income, suggesting to me it's popular with retirees. Could that possibly be a sign it has the lifestyle drivers when commuting to the city everyday is not required? That has been my thought process so maybe I am just looking for figures to confirm this.

 

Or everyone is unemployed and on centrelink? Have you lived or worked down there?

Honestly apart from a very few select pockets, its a pretty low socioeconomic area. It's not some undiscovered lifestyle retreat like you're hoping I think. There's reasons why its so cheap.

 

I haven't. I'm just going on my impressions from attending home opens. What got me interested in the suburb actually was the disconnect between my expectations and the fact the houses (in the areas I've driven through) and the suburb seemed to be kept quite well, especially the foreshore/beach area.

 

The actual suburb of Rockingham has two distinct areas that might well be two different suburbs, split north and south by Patterson Rd and a patchy chain of undeveloped land. There is the good part to the north around the foreshore (gentrified, nice leafy streets etc but out of your budget) vs the more inland southern half around the shopping centre that was released in the 60s and has a lot of social problems (within your budget).
Edit: There's also a higher density area developed in the late 90s near Lake Richmond that kind of sits between the two other areas in terms of price and desirability.

 

I don't know how to start a thread on this website so I thought Id at least explain what's going on in Girrawheen...

It has become zoned R40/60. Real estate agents go as far as to put diagrams on their adds suggesting battle-axe blocks. HOWEVER - Council guidelines as I read them say that all homes must have street frontage or a view of public space. When I look at google maps I see not even one battle-axe home in the area. When I look for a battle-axe block of land in the suburb I see not even one for sale. Battle-axe blocks are NOT being approved in Girrawheen and the area is currently overpriced due to fake potential.

We really do need to get the word out to the public on this. Its fine to say caveat emptor but if there are enough people fooled then the price for the area is artificially high and is an impediment to home ownership for some. And, once word does get out that the battle-axe with existing home is not an option, those that bought in the area may lose money. Most chat rooms seem to be run by people with investment properties and they don't want to see advice that doesn't drive process up/creates panic buying. I hope this gets posted.

The one thing we can say, with 100% certainty is that real estate agents lie carefully, but they do lie.

Don't pay more than $300k for a home in Girrawheen. I would say thats just too risky.

 

Hi @Educated Purchase
I think you have misinterpreted the guidelines. They do not need to have street frontage. The main criteria to gain split coding is that there is only one crossover/driveway (unless it's a corner block) so if it's a retain and built or 2-4 houses then they must all use the same driveway.
I think what you may have misinterpreted is in regards to passive/street surveillance - there must be at least one habitable room which can look down the common driveway. This is part of the rcodes as well.

Relevant document is found here Split Coded Areas - LPP 4.20 - City of Wanneroo

 

I would consider some of these suburbs https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/...027;+wanneroo,+wa+6065;+kiara,+wa+6054/list-3

 

The problem in Girrawheen and developing has more to do with end values of new product. It makes no sense

 

Digging up this old thread. Has anyone thought about Westminster? A lot of the areas are R40. Do you think it would be good to subdivide in the future?