Townsville vs Sydney?

Dan
These graphs (CBA MyWealth site) show the historical growth rate of some of the Rocky suburbs compared with Brisbane...
Jen

 

Jen has the development of new estates in Townsville slowed down,there always seems to be a lot of DHA housing available?

 

Hugh72, I would say yes and no re. new estates in Townsville. Yes if you are looking over a longer period. Seems to be fairly steady around the periphery, but not much close to the CBD left to develop other than big unit developments and infill. See the attached for details.

• http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products...lga/res-land-dwelling-activity-townsville.pdf
• http://www.gradyhomes.com.au/house-land-packages/townsville-estates/

Re. DHA housing, apparently they sell off their properties after 15 years, so the amount on the market fluctuates accordingly. I heard recently that there is a whole batch of ex-DHA houses (all 4 bedders) about to come onto the market. Apparently they are nearly all 4 bedders these days.

 

Thanks Jen, if you were to pick up ex-DHA decommissioned stock; where in your opinion would be the best places to buy these? There are so many little pocket neighbourhoods of DHA communities... is the general rule that; the closer to the Strand and Castle Hill, the better?

 

After the recent two summers we didn't have, and now a winter that EVERYONE is absolutely sick of - freezing, bleak, grey and wet; I'd say there will be a new flood of Victorians headin' up to Brizzy/Townsville et al shortly to buy up big.

Frickin over it.

 

Hi C-mac. The general rules I would suggest are to steer clear of areas of oversupply and risk, and consider the demands of your target tenants.

In terms of supply, ex-DHA stock tends to be in Kirwan, Douglas, Annandale & Idalia. All within close proximity to the Lavarack Barracks. The middle suburbs closer to the Strand and Castle Hill tend to be more Queenslander and Cottage housing stock, a lot of which is subject to flooding. Kirwan has a lot of stock on the market at the moment, and too many rentals. Douglas has quite a bit coming onto the market in the near future. It's also more of a University population. Annandale and Idalia are more geographically constrained. Annandale is generally older, with less ex-DHA stock than newer areas of Idalia, which tends to be more expensive.

In terms of demand, The Strand, Castle Hill, Jezzine Barracks, the City, South Townsville, the riverfront and the planned Waterfront Development are strong lifestyle attractors, but not necessarily the biggest attractors for families. Families tend to want proximity to work and study, like the James Cook University, the Hospital, Lavarack Barracks, shopping centres and decent schools. Also, the newer parts of Idalia have the NBN, whereas it won't be heading towards Annandale for some time.

Having said all that, at the end of the day, the best place to buy ex-DHA stock really comes down to a balance point between your budget, risk tolerance and investment strategy.

Cheers

Jen

 

Bayview, it's actually cold in Townsville as well at the moment. Cold, but sunny.

Jen

 

But, what is "cold" in Townsville?

I remember playing some Pro-Ams up there during winter (circa 1982), and it was (to me) terrific....lots of sun, lots of beer and lots of terrible golf.

 

Cold in Townsville is 11-24 degrees celcius...

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry; shouldn't laugh at your misfortune. I'll swap ya.

Our top temp in the last 3 days here hasn't even got to 11.

Currently 8 degrees in the workshop.

 

Brrr, definitely time to move North. Although Cairns/Townsville might be too hot for you in Summer. Brisbane is a happy medium, but I was a bit cold there on Sunday. 1st year I moved up I was swimming at the beach in June!

 

Nup; I love hot weather.

Lived a number of teenage years in the Riverina, and spent 2 years in L.A where it's blue sky 300 days a year.

By about August every year, I'm about more ready to cut my wrists than usual, because I realise there's still bloody Sept, Oct and a fair chunk of Nov to go for crap weather, as well as the frickin Spring Horse Racing Carnival advertising tsunami, another year of The Pies not in the GF, and......AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHHHH!!!!...where are the razor blades?.

 

Bayview, you sound like you need some Vitamin D. Sunlight on your eyelids will do it, and beat away the winter blues (Seasonal Affective Disorder - SADS). Blue sky 300+ days of the year is definitely Townsville. Not Cairns.

 

Yeah; went to Cairns for a 2 week holiday in Sept about 5 years ago...Day 1 was perfect - went to the Reef....then; rained from day 2 to day 11....cancelled the last 3 days of the trip and came home because the forecast was for even more and heavier rain.

 

Hi Jen Jen, I have read your post and found it very interesting. My friends live in Sydney but were sold a house and land package in Mount Low in the North Shore. When settle were told there was an oversupply at the moment. I would like to know your comments about this area. I am not sure if it was a good investment choice to buy there.

Thanks

 

Hi Jen,

Any updates on Townsville ? Hoping it would have started some decent recovery by now. The recent reports from HTW indicated that it was at the start of the recovery. My property is Douglas is vacant again and struggling to get a new tenant in. Dropping rent again. Place is in excellent condition and nice location.

Argh Done nothing since I bought it in 2008 ( top of the peak syndrome ) and been holding on hoping to get that return I have been asking . Spent 5 days up there recently and the place has a great vibe and nice infrastructure...

Any thoughts people., can they see Townsville coming good ?

 

Once supply is taken up out that way, prices will come good. Probably a good time to buy, but vacancy rates are a little high in parts at the moment. Not a bad thing that it's brand new, apparently given the choice a lot of younger people prefer something newer to rent.

 

We bought in rocky and Townsville last cycle and did well .

I'd be waiting for Brisbane to move significantly , unless you're into looking around for bargains , but the vacancy rates are high for rocky and Townsville .

Currently we've bought several cheapies in Brisbane and looking for more .

Cliff

 

Yes, I thing the area will eventually go up but I am wondering whether it will take long time to recover. Market has not move since when they bought 2 years ago and I think has actually dropped. There are still plenty of supply to come.... Opportunity cost?

 

@JenJen

Do you own properties or have a financial interest in townsville?

Its an opinion, if you dont like it just ignore it

Although not for the reasons (i dont know much about the fluctuations) definitely would agree with the safer option
End of the day Sydney is going to be a safer option being the largest city in Australia with a much higher demand.
Not saying townsville is a bad option but it depends on personal cirumstances but i believe to the majority of the population Sydney would be safer