NSW Sydney PPOR - $1.8m

Here's a scenario for you: imagine you have a $1.8m-$2m budget to purchase a PPOR and your options are the inner west or getting out regionally south (northern Illawarra / Wollongong). Couple with two very young children (under 3).

Noticing a lot of competition in this price bracket regionally, so the value there has largely dissipated (i.e. good northern Illawarra houses - 3/4 bedroom in proximity to beach, train station & schools easily fetching $1.8m - $2m+). For the same money you can get a nice 3/4 bedroom house (likely terrace or semi) in Leichhardt, Newtown, Petersham etc, albeit you won't have much of a backyard.

Disregard commuting to Sydney for work for the purposes of balancing what's more important - I see quality of life benefits in Illawarra vs more amenities in inner west / long-term price safety. Who knows if the WFH post-pandemic / sea change will continue in perpetuity.

 

If its because thats where family is, fair enough. But why only those two choices?

northern beaches, hills or even central coast are options?

 

Hills is pretty crazy at the moment. Clients are reporting 70-80 people at opens. So that's at least 35-40 groups if each has 2 people show up....

 

In that budget I would go castle hill or cherrybrook

 

Third poll option added

Illawarra because of family and friends being located in Wollongong. Inner west because we have lived there previously and really like the area / parks / schools.

 

I thought Hills & north / north-west Sydney are very car dependant areas though? Guess I should have mentioned that in the post, walking distance to train line is important for us.

 

There's a new train line now! North West Metro. And.... these trains are new... good aircon etc.

Metro


You could also try along the Sutherland train line?

 

There is new north west metro which is fully functional ...these suburbs are going a bit crazy atm ..

 

I think you'd get a better deal in the Inner West in the current market.

 

Hi @Parkzilla,

I'll provide an alternative perspective from the Inner West and Wollongong that will consider your needs for you to consider.

The St George (Arncliffe to Oatley) and Sutherland (to Cronulla) regions are my strategic picks to suit your needs by balancing good amenities while being relatively close to family and friends for these reasons below:

Amenities: There are train lines that run between the mentioned suburbs - a fair few houses walking distance to choose from. There are excellent express services at select stations to the CBD in 20-40mins. There are selective schools, Westfield's, beaches {Brighton-Le-Sands and Cronulla), hospitals in both regions.

Work: From a work perspective, consider the long run. Your current job maybe ok with WFH but how about future jobs? Do you want to risk return to work in the office and travelling 4 hours a day from Wollongong? If the alternative is St George/Sutherland, you could save 2-3 hours a day (or 10-15hrs a week) that you could be spending with your kids.

Proximity: By choosing St George/Sutherland over Inner West, Hills, Northern Beaches, it's proximity would be advantageous as it is approx 1hr drive (depending on which part of the regions) to Wollongong where your family are. You're able to bypass the bottlenecks through the Inner West, Northern Beachs to go south.

Environment: Given its your PPOR, I presume it'll be your residence for years to come. Consider what environment you'd like your children to grow up in. As you know, Sydney is more competitive and fast paced than Wollongong based on my experience growing up outside of Sydney. You may want them to go to good OC and selective schools and later provide them with the option to live at home and easily travel to uni. This is why Sydney may be more beneficial.

I'm sure you've considered some of these aspects before. I hope my perspective may open up your consideration of purchasing in St George or Sutherland region as a balance between good amenities and environmental benefits exclusive to Sydney with your desire to be close to family and friends. Good luck!

Cheers,
Henry

 

Well said and I agree

 

Seeing thread title, my first instinctual response would be go hills district. The well performing, highly desireable schools are pushing up prices within suburbs in their school zones in Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, etc. James Ruse High in Carlo consistently tops the state year after year, with at least half of the top 10 perfect ATAR scores from this 1 school alone, while the rest of the state, inclusive of private schools, compete for scraps.

IMHO the inner west is no place to raise children. It's more for yuppy lifestyle/influencer area. I've been in Lilyfield for a period of time in the past. Didn't realise it at the time just how much exhaust fumes I was inhaling daily (wasn't even near a main road), my nose became desensitised to it all. Up until I moved out of the area, and during an overseas trip to south east Asia the air pollution reminded me of inner west Sydney.

 

James ruse is selective tho. Not like it has a catchment.

clearly wollongong, the hills and inner west are very different lifestyles for the same pricepoint. Op has to have some preference?

 

100 percent agree ...I would not go inner west even if budget allows....northern beaches is ok perhaps but not sure what 2m budget can get today

 

Inner West doesn't have to be Newtown, Ersko, Alexandria etc.

It also encompasses Lewisham, Dulwich Hill, Petersham, Croydon etc where you can get bigger blocks.

You could also just squeeze into the likes of Beecroft which is more 'family friendly'.

 

All very true. I understand the attraction of the hills / north west and it has given us something to reconsider, but we feel pretty set on inner west (doesn’t have to be “inner inner” - Croydon, Dulwich Hill, Petersham and Summer Hill are all lovely) for village atmosphere and proximity to CBD by good train connections or northern Illawarra for lifestyle reasons.

WFH flexibility is a given in our professions, with a likely commute 1-2 days per week very tolerable even if 90 mins each way. When we used to live in Leichhardt the commute could be 45 mins each way in peak hour (buses on parramatta rd crawling!).

 

Fair enough. Then you just have to list out the advantages and disadvantages of the two. Long term growth might also be a consideration.

 

Agreed. Is the commonly accepted thinking that Sydney will keep growing at historic rates whilst regionals continue to lag behind, or that the sea/tree change triggered by the pandemic & greater acceptance of WFH flexibility will lead the latter to catch up?

 

Nobody knows but some are predicting the latter.

 

Really thoughtful post, appreciate it. We considered the Shire as a good halfway point / best of both worlds, but then thought it would be better to go "all in" one way or the other than compromise on both. I spent a few years living in Oatley when very young, no doubt it has changed in the decades since! Lots to consider and weigh up.