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cheers yack. i think it’s just a different perspective if you are a local as opposed to an overseas investor/owner occupier. i agree that the central equity properties are over-priced and the net yields are low and the resale potential dodgy. from an asian perspective (or a london one, come to that), the flats are still relatively cheap and they are in the heart of the city which is great to them/us. the reality is that they are probably not good investments and you could probably do much better with 500k to invest, but they sure look attractive to us outsiders.
i did go to docklands and saw some of the developments. conder tower (not yet built) mirvac and lend lease. they are even more expensive than comparable southbank apartments and there are so many of them! who is going to buy them all and live in them all? the infrastructure isn’t there yet either – a few shops and restaurants and not too good from a transport point of view. maybe in 10 years time it will be the new hub of melbourne as you say, but right now it seems like it’s stuck out on a limb away from the centre. it may well be that, as you say, the centre of melbourne is moving that way. we’ll have to wait and see.
am i right in thinking that melbourne will host the 2006 commonwealth games? if so, will this impact on centrally located apartments? and are there any other significant events in the pipeline to stimulate the market. i am thinking of the increase in the foreign student population. as i wander around town, i am amazed at the number of chinese people here. and they are not hong kongers but are mostly from the mainland as they are speaking mandarin not cantonese. it looks like there is and will be an even bigger boom in chinese students studying in melbourne and their parents can afford to set them up in centrally located flats. this must be a big factor for the future. yes?
well, thanks again for your advice, yack. please continue to chat. howard.yes, you’re right. i’m british but have lived for the past 7 years in hong kong. in response to your question, ‘they’ are the people at central equity. ‘they’ tell me that the vacancy rates are very low/non existent but of course they are still in the 2 years’ rental guarantee period.
i checked out the rents being asked for on the apartment blocks completed last year. they are asking for about450/460 a week on the 3 bedroomed flats. and they seem to be getting it. it could be that many of the tenants are the children of rich overseas people from hong kong china and other east asian countries who are students in melbourne.so to these folks, the cost is not much of an issue. i saw that the flats in the blocks completed last year and situated behind the crown casino (the centurion, yarra crest,riverside gardens, the summit)have not increased that much in value since they were marketeted off plan in hong kong maybe 3 years ago. the just completed blocks(victoria tower and the sentinel) are in the range 4-500k.the newest two blocks which stand next to them are even more expensive in the range 5-600k for 3 bdrooms. ‘they’ tell me that buiilding costs are going up year by year, hence the continuing price hikes. in spite of all this, the two new blocks are already almost sold out.so somebody must be buying them! are they all stupid people from the far east with more money than sense?
if i don’t buy one one of these, can you recommend any other new developments in south melbourne/post melbourne? actuall i went to look at some second-hand apartments in these areas. they had better views and were better built than the central equity ones. but of course, it’s not legal for me to buy one of these. i have to buy new.
i have been in melbourne over the easter holiday to have a look. it’s a great place to live. maybe down the line, in the short term our family may move here or in the longer term when the kids have ggrown up, my wife and i will move here when i retire. so, i’m looking for a place as a reasonable investment which could also make a family home down the line a few years.
ok, i’ve gone on a bit so i’d better sign off and wait to see if you guys have any other helpful advice to add. i have donea search in the forum archives by the way andgot some other ideas. so cheers for now. howard.
