NSW What do people think about Dee Why?

Hello all, I am curious to hear people's thoughts are on Dee Why NSW?
I am not looking at buying in the area at the moment but think it could do well in the future with the new hospital going in at Frenchs Forest.
I have a unit there at the moment and would buy again in the future if the price is right.

 

We've looked at dee why on several occasions for ourselves and wapiti amour daughter .

We ended buying in manly in 2013 as we felt dee why was relatively over priced compared with manly .

Northern beaches will always do well , though there has been and there is lots more development planned in dee why with several of the major players having sites there including Meriton .

It still has a rough element , and I've had several patients over the years who have been assaulted there .

Beach has been redeveloped a few years ago and it has a nice feel .

I haven't tracked prices in the last two years , but it was moving quite strongly at the time along with manly .

The fast bus to the city is well regarded locally .

I'm not sure how much impact the new hospital will have . Depends how many of the staff. Are moving from out of area . Most of the doctors already live there or on the north shore . Many have been positioning their rooms in Frenches Forrest road for several years in anticipation of the opening . I think it's quite likely that most of the staff will be drawn from the existing community ,though with the nursing staff / students etc this may increase the demand for units in the local area .

The parking in dee why is already horrible and the current units being built will only exacerbate this .

Cliff

 

I reckon it's a good area, great location, express buses to the city, good shopping centre. Still some good buying to be had on the other side of pittwater rd IMO.
Looked at a place there not long ago, but unfortunately was not in a position to buy - otherwise would have: 2 bed unit for low 500s in a solid block with low strata. 15min walk to the beach or a 5 min bike ride on the dedicated cycle way. Would rent in the 500s too. That was a few months back, not sure how it's moved now. On the many times I have been over, I have not encountered much roughness at all. As the area gets a lot of new very nice developments, this is bound to be driven away. The place has already changed a lot in say the last 10 years.

Ultimately it's on the northern beaches, so always going to be in demand and I would argue it's still pretty accessible to the city. There have been talks of implementing a rapid transit bus system with express transport to the city on dedicated bus lanes, of course Dee Why is one of the major stops. Not sure if that will eventually be implemented but likely sometime in the future, which would further lift prices in the area as well as the desirability.

 

Thanks Ouga and Cliff for taking the time to get back to me and the detailed responses.

 

I lived in an apartment in north manly. Better location if u ask me. Not sure of price comparison with Dee why tho. However A lot less development. Walk to warringah mall and closer for the express bus. Also walking distance to manly beach. Mostly houses but we lived in a small apartment complex. Maybe check around there for something

 

My son bought in Dee Why less than two years ago, beachside pittwater road. Low strata, small block, has increased by at least 100k in value if resold. It is his PPOR and he likes the area. It was not an investment, however the property would be neutral if rented.

 

@Tom Howes

if you see good opportunity, buy there...i personally like it.

Friend of mine have an unit there.. and as others said.. there has been a good growth ...

 

For value compared to more expensive neighbours we think Dee Why is sound. Even did a blog on this recently on our FB page- living on beaches is very different on this side of Sydney and is more about lifestyle than convenience to CBD. Just make sure you invest in strata search reports on anything you buy as some of the complexes (especially those closer to the ocean and exposed) do have degradation issues that require monitoring and vigilant OCs.

 

There's some great town centre upgrade works being carried out at the moment as well.

 

Highly recommend Dee Why. I have a unit in Dee Why that has done pretty well in the last two years but I believe there is still plenty left in it. Check out the Dee Why master plan, it won lots of awards http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/you...and-strategies/dee-why-town-centre-masterplan The Warringah council is investing quite heavily in Dee Why as is the state goverment with the Pittwater road upgrades and in and around the new hospital.

 

All sounds good thanks for getting back to me.

 

I live at narrabeen so may be biased. But from a lifestyle perspective narrabeen is much nicer. Way less traffic and only an extra 5 mins on the express bus to the city, easy access to the wakehurst parkway and walking distance to a few pubs, supermarkets etc. In fact I avoid driving through dee why at all costs. Locals often refer to it as the 'druitt' of the beaches.

As in investment it might be great. If it was to live in I'd chose basically any other suburb on the northern beaches.

 

I used to live in Forestville and wish I could move back there but too expensive for me. But in regards to Dee Why, for many years it was considered a poorer cousin with some rough 'lads' hanging out there to cause trouble and also in Warringah Mall. Its a great place and in Dee Why, there are some great bargains for unit complex that have no lift, pool, gym or anything silly like that to keep strata costs down. I believe from memory that the Dee Why RSL had a big facelift and many of the unit complexes were being build to make it easier for our older generations to walk down and have a punt in the pokies.

 

its not 5 minutes in peak hour, I can vouch for that. Dee Why has had a bad rep due to the housing commission that has since been wiped out but go and spend a Sunday up there and experience it for yourself. It's really come along way. You mentioned mount druitt, I bet you would have loved to buy a few IP's over there a few years ago when it's rep was really bad! Narrabeen just doesn't have the infrastructure that Dee Why has. Dee Why has really good shopping, cafes and restaurants, walking tracks, pubs, the rsl and a great beach. Narrabeen has a nice beach but not much else, if it's the quiet life you like it would be perfect. On completion of the Dee Why master plan, it will be a genuine alternative to Manly and the central hub of the Northern Beaches. As stated, I have an IP here so I may be biased

 

I really like Narrabeen. I have a unit there as well. The entry point is lower in Dee Why than Narrabeen. I don't think Dee Why deserves its rough reputation. I spent six months of this year house sitting a unit, not one issue and felt safe walking around a night.
I look forward to the upgrades in the area.

 

Innov8ive you're right dee why does have more shops than narrabeen. But in terms of pubs, restaurants, walking tracks and cafés narrabeen has plenty of them. And you have stocklands shopping centre 5 minutes up the road at warriewood (and you won't get stuck in traffic getting there).

There is still the odd murder in dee why but it has definitely cleaned up over the past 5 or so years. You might do really well investing there but it's had significant growth over the last couple of years so you've potentially missed a large portion of it.

 

The odd murder?? What on earth are you talking about? Can you please tell me when someone was murdered in Dee Why recently? Never heard of it! By your mentality of Narrabeen having all these things, I could just say that Dee Why has Warringah mall, it's 5 minutes away, Dee Why has Manly beach it's 5 minutes away. The idea of what a suburb has is for the convenience of being able to walk to it.

 

All I'm saying is that narrabeen has most of the facilities of dee why minus the traffic and crime. More of a relaxed holiday vibe if you will. I said the 'odd murder' because it's not an everyday occurrence but a lot of the time when there is a serious crime on the beaches it tends to be in dee why. There were a couple of murders in 2012 from memory and just recently a woman was sexually assaulted walking along the beach. My point is that although it has cleaned up there is still some rough elements. I would not let my girlfriend walk through some areas of dee why late at night.

Aside from this I'm not saying it's a bad area to invest but if you buy in now I feel you've missed a lot of the growth.

 

There was one murder in 2010 which was two acquaintances in a dispute- not a random event, published in 2012 though during the trial as mentioned on Google which is no doubt your source. There has however been a couple of murders more recently in Narrabeen, so Google tells me. For you to say and I quote 'there is still the odd murder in Dee Why' is just plain wrong and highly misleading. One murder 5 years ago. I would completely agree that Dee Why still has a bit of riff raff but certainly not in the way you describe it.

 

My source is actually my mate that works out of manly police station. I think I'll leave it you seem overly defensive of the area.

My simple point was that it is know for having higher rates of crime amongst the northern beaches suburbs and has experienced significant growth on the last couple of years.

That is all.