NSW Sydney lower north shore PPOR

Hi guys - hoping to get some advice as a FHB! Been tracking the market for some time and now thinking about buying a PPOR as the market has dropped.

I'm looking at lower north shore (Wollstonecraft, Greenwich) due to proximity to city (work), St Leonards development and Crows Nest metro coming online in a few years. Not a big fan of St Leonards or Crows Nest though given so many new developments. Budget $850k, hoping for 2bd unit.

I've seen some sales recently within my budget:
Sold 6/23 River Road, Wollstonecraft NSW 2065 on 16 Nov 2018 - 2014752687 | Domain

Sold 12/1B Innes Road, Greenwich NSW 2065 on 02 Mar 2018 - 2014172783 | Domain

Sold 2/27 Morton Street, Wollstonecraft NSW 2065 on 10 Aug 2018 - 2014511765 | Domain

What do you guys think about:
1. Growth potential of these areas
2. Are the above sale prices reasonable? They looked quite ok to me but not sure if they will drop further next year
3. Anyone live in these areas and can help me with how it's like living there?

Thanks so much for any input!

 

It's a pretty great place to live except maybe not on the River road. Blue chip so long term should be fine. Those prices reflect prices coming off the boil. Make sure you are walking distance to the station/Crows Nest and caution with the larger new developments.

 

Thanks so much for your reply! I'm not super familiar with the area, is there anything particular why I should avoid River Rd?

 

Busy road

 

As @Morgs said - busy.

If you haven't lived in the area, I'd think about renting for a little while but I don't think you can go too far wrong.

 

try and see if they can do $850K, since, the market has drop a lot more recently

1202/2-4 Atchison Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 - Apartment For Sale | Domain

 

6600 a year strata.

 

That's 3K extra each year compare to the unit.

 

I think the OP was (wisely) avoiding the new or relatively new developments in St Leonards. A small or medium size older block with a large land component would be a better buy imho.

6k a year is a fair bit but 3k is close to bare minimum so you are going to be somewhere in between depending on sinking fund contributions.

 

Thanks @Cynthialiu041,

I live and work on the lower NS, so this is very much my patch.

All of the areas you mention are fantastic, with great transport and access to amenity.

$850k is entry level, but certainly workable.

As a FHB there are questions that I would want answered in relation to what your goals are, how long you wish to live there, what stage of life you are at etc. Do you want vibrancy, tranquility, access to the CBD, or nightlife etc.

Generally speaking I would say that Greenwich and Crows Nest have historically been for an older demographic, though this is changing. St Leonards is very convenient, thought in my opinion, I am turned off by much of the newer stock.

Wollstonecraft or Crows Nest are in my opinion, the picks of the bunch.

Wollstonecraft is a quiet suburb on a train line, four stops from Wynyard. Wollstonecraft may lag vs Crows Nest in growth in the short term as the Sydney Metro bypasses it. But it will always be premium, and if tranquility/CBD access/greenery is your preference, this is great. Location is key obviously.

Crows Nest will probably outperform in the next few years. Crows Nest is still quite charming, and will have the Metro go through. It has vibrancy as well.

Hope this helps and always happy to help.

John

 

John is on the money here and there is a huge amount of development in the pipeline for St Leonards and immediate surrounds.

 

Nominal strata in most complexs. Relatively modern $1400 pq.

 

Thanks all for your responses!

Do you think it's better in terms of value to purchase on an inferior street within a better suburb (e.g. crows nest) or on a better street in a worse suburb?

Given the market downturn, would it be better to wait? What are the chances these areas will experience large falls in the next year or so? I'd hate to spend $850k now for the value to fall to $700k in 2yrs!

 

No one knows. But there were people who held off buying in 2010 and 2015 for the same reason... oops.

 

2010 was the time to buy...2015....not so good..as most of gains have been reversed.....more will come before end of 2020.

 

No one knows, and markets have a habit of surprising us. By historical standards we would be closer to the bottom than the top given we have only corrected by 10% twice since WWII. So big corrections in Sydney property have precedent, but they are unusual.

Whether prices are about to go up or down is really your secondary question: first you need to ask yourself what your goals are, and what stage of life you are in.

Remember that if you hold back on purchasing for say 5 years hoping for a trough, whether you are right or wrong, you have just taken 5 years off your earning life-cycle and contracted the time frame in which you can buy multiple properties if you choose to do so.

No one can pick the peaks nor the troughs. What we do know is that we have a buyer's market right now, so if you see something quality, you should go for it.

 

2015 was in reference to those who were waiting around for the market to crash after the property had been moving up solidly from 2013.

My point was really, if you need a place, you research and if you're happy with the price, you buy. If you're worried about prices falling, unless you've done detailed research, you could be forever waiting and then the next boom occurs and you're sitting kicking yourself wishing you had bought.... just like all those people complaining since 2000.

 

If you're looking for CG, I would not buy as I think the chances of that kind of property seeing any real growth in the short to medium term is quite low. I would be surprised if prices didn't fall quite a bit further. If you just want a place to live then sure.

 

OK....but it is also cyclical....the reason why Sydney has some many issues is because it overshot big time. It should have corrected in 2016.....but the RBA reduced rates. I think it will get worse before it gets better.

People panned me for saying the market would come off in 2019......the rate of fall has surprised even myself...this is not normal for Sydney at least...

 

Sold 6/30 Morton Street, Wollstonecraft NSW 2065 on 17 Nov 2018 - 2014729581 | Domain

What do you guys think about this...$1.16m for a 2bd apartment in this market?