SA To buy house in Adelaide hills area

Hi guys,

Searched the forum and did not find adelaide hills threads a lot.

Can someone please tell me about the areas like Belair and Stirling and compare to Mt Barker and Birdwood etc ? Are these viable locations from a rental demand perspective ? Do people regularly commute from Birdwood and Mt Barker to CBD of Adelaide ?

Also, how Adelaide and surrounding areas in terms of industry etc ? Are there any major industries or exports from this area ?

Thank you

 

Wine

 

Ok, I got new shoes and they are hurting my toes. Not sure how that relates to the OP.

My parents live in Hahndorf which has brisk demand for rentals which seems to keep prices robust. Mt Barker has a lot more supply and rental prices are lower. But then buy prices are lower too, so it probably evens out.

OP is probably better off speaking to some local agents.

 

I didn't say whine.

I wanted to say Tourism but I thought everyone knew that already.

 

I grew up in Stirling, beautiful area, fond memories from younger years of many a day spent riding my pushbike then later motorbike around the countryside.

Massive socioeconomic difference between the areas around Mount Lofty (Stirling, Craters, Aldgate) and Mount Barker. Different markets. I would say the closer you get to city/foothills the more the market is PPOR demand from cashed up tree changers.

Mt Barker is more of a regional hub it's own right. If you were looking for an IP there I would be aiming for either as near as possible to town center otherwise if further out as much land as possible, potentially acreage with future rezoning or subdivision potential. Also need to screen tennants thoroughly, they are a bit rough out that way, at least thats my recollection from playing their AFL team in highschool - They always played dirty!

 

Mt Barker is flooded with endless new subdivsion. If money can stretch that far, Stirling would be my pick every day of the week, though not a fantastic yield.

Birdwood is a long drive from the CBD, but I guess its doable. As an IP its not somewhere I would consider, no real growth drivers

 

Wouldn't buy mt barker, new estates being released all over the place.

Crafers and stirling probably good. Not a whole heap of tenant demand though.

 

Thank you for the information !

What do you think about Belair ?

 

Thank you for the reply !

Is there any specific reason for tall the new estates ? Is it a suburb for those who commute to CBD or does it have businesses and industry of its own ?

 

You sound Like a bad wine, bitter.

 

Mount Barker is 35 km from the Adelaide CBD, it used to be farmland, then back 10 odd years ago the State Gov and council allowed rezoning to residential (something like 1300 hectares was approved), so a few farmers got rich selling off to large developers, who promptly put in new roads and services and cut up blocks into allotments. And this pattern has continued ever since. The council is pro development and is allowing very small courtyard subdivisions, see the Mount Barker Council development plan here if you like; https://www.dpti.sa.gov.au/__data/a...993/Mount_Barker_Council_Development_Plan.pdf

Land at Mount Barker is abundant (over supply), so it's cheap, there are 45 vacant blocks online for sale as I type this right now. Demand primarily being driven by the first home owners, because it's cheap. These first home owners put up with the commute to work from so far out because it is cheap. (Just take a drive up the Sth Eastern Freeway at 5.10pm one night to see how scary the tail-gating is at 100km/h).

Now compare this to Belair, 9km from the CBD, with no large tracts of vacant land available for subdivision, the whole suburb is already residential or national park, so the only new blocks will come from knocking down old houses, and seeing if the council will allow the bigger ones to be subdivided into 2, but the development plan for this suburb is not supportive of small courtyard division, because the land is on a hillside and steep, so most blocks need a minimum of 700 square meters to put a detached house on and even bigger if the land is really steep, see the City of Mitcham development plan here if you are interested; https://www.dpti.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/178252/Mitcham_Council_Development_Plan.pdf.

So all this leads to very little supply (undersupply), demand is good, being only a short commute to the CBD this suburb appeals to lots -first home buyers, families, retirees, investors etc, thus keeping prices higher. In this suburb and you will find only 1 block for sale online right now.

Given the above info, which suburb do you think will have better future capital growth for investing in?

 

Erica hit the nail on the head with Mount Barker. 35km is a long way, particularly for Adelaide. Stick with Belair. It's more expensive but better yields than Mount Barker and has decent public transport.

 

Hi DT.

Really value your posts and insight into the SA market.

Just wondering if you have the same view about Mount Barker now, as you did in 2019 in the above post?

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
K.

 

Key difference between those suburbs and Belair is that Belair is on the city fringe but in the Hills and it's on Adelaide train line ie closer to the city less than 10km or 15 to 20 mins. The others aren't - big lifestyle difference. Belair is lovely.

 

There are a lovely homes in the Adelaide Hills I've seen listed and been tempted to buy as a rental but with possibility of living there myself in the future, although I've always been concerned about whether there really is enough rental demand out there.

 

Most property experts are saying Stirling is the go for 2021 in Today's paper.

Where to buy property in 2021

 

South Australian property experts reveal where to buy in 2021 - realestate.com.au

"Stirling, in the Adelaide Hills, was identified by several agents as being the best pick for regional buying in 2021.

“It’s the jewel in the crown of Adelaide Hills living – it’s the Hills location where everyone wants to be,”

 

The Adelaide hills create a rain shadow and the area closer to Mt Barker is less hills and more dry bush. Altho the hills, belair etc are really nice, is there a fire risk you would want to factor in?

 

The property is for a rental, so would fire risk mater? As long as its insured, you should be right. (Plus you probably have just as much chance that the tenant burns it down, than you would from a bush fire)

Or is the LL expected to maintain fire pumps and water sources etc which is an added expense?

 

Wow, that is a bit harsh. Seriously the insurance companies are used to paying for fires caused by teenagers cooking chips whilst on social media. Other than that house fires are quite rare. Bushfires on the other hand ..............

I thought mitigating risk of fire and the threat from bushfires was a property owners responsibility?