Central Coast, Newcastle (NSW)

I live on the CC and have been watching the local market very carefully for past year. Prices have almost doubled in past 2-3 years. I still believe there is more growth in the area. You will not find positive cash anywhere even in the cheaper areas up in the north end eg. Budgewoi. I purchased a property in Saratoga in March for $320k now valued at $420K. There are many investors renovating to sell straight away in the Terrigal, Wamberal areas and it is possible to make a $100k profit providing you purchase in the right streets.

Central Coast is a big area and prices are very different suburb to suburb so if you have an area in mind let me know.

We went to CC the last two weekends. The price is not as cheap as we thought. But still lower than Sydney. We don’t have much ideas about the areas as well. The rental return doesn’t seem very good. Looking for house around $300k. Only a few
timber ones and sold very quickly.

Hi Motivated,

As you are local in CC, which area is good for rents, close to train or water?

In Sydney people always prefer to stay close to transport. Not sure about the people in CC?

I live in Lake Macquarie and work between the Central Coast and Cessnock and tend to “window shop” and chat in real estate offices during the day… . The market on the Central Coast in all areas is very hot the prviously “affordable” northern end has gone crazy with Sydney escapees.There is very little chance you will find a cash flow positive property here… the west side of lake Macqurie is a little better about 20k cheaper for the same quality of property but still rentals havnt kept up with property values Positive cash flow would be hard to find… even Cessnock has experienced double digit capital growth for the last couple of years pushing the figures well out of wack if you are after positive cash flow…
I had a call from an agent ive been working with today offering me a great deal in Toronto 4 bed house on large block for 250k.. and would get $280 /week rent…. i declined.
As to the idea that you can offer 10% lower then the asking price… the house next door to me went on the market sat 9am.. for 270k… sold within 2 hours for 269k…. hope i like the new neighbours…

I will try to answer all questions but please let me know if I’ve missed any as I am running out the door and will answer again when I get back.

Kincumber, some parts are close to the water and although it is only 5-10 minutes from Avoca, Terrigal, Saratoga etc it has not had as much growth as sorrounding areas. You can still buy a place in the $300’s which is rare for the south end of the CC. There are parts of Kincumber that are a bit rough (bit of housing commission) but this is slowly moving away. If you want more growth I would go to Saratoga or Davistown which are just around the corner and you can still get cheaper houses to renovate. I have a 4 bed brick house that I purchased for $320K and rents for $310 p/w. I am very lucky as this is very high rent for the area. You will not get anywhere near positive cash in the south end of CC as rents have a long way to go to catch up, one day they will if you can afford to hold on to them.

It is also very hard to get tennants at the moment. Everywhere you go in the Terrigal area you will see For Lease signs.

Erina is the main shopping area of the south. Prices are also still a bit cheaper here. Erina is not near water but only a 5 min drive to Terrigal beach.

Gosford used to be the main shopping, business district but this has changed overtime. Once Erina Fair opened it turned into a ghost town full of junkies. Things are now changing in Gosford and council is spending a lot of money in it. They are trying to move the CBD closer to the water by moving the road underground. This is also where the train station is. I beleive it would be a good area to invest in and hold on to. Again, you will not get positive cash property.

Property that has had massive growth on the central coast is any suburb close to a beach and if you can walk to the beach you have struck it rich now the lake areas are moving.

Hi Redlilia,

Yes your right wyoming is one of the cheaper suburbs. It did used to have a fairly bad reputation but seems to be picking up lately. The beaches would be about a 20-25 minute drive away, not too much there just food shops, car yards etc. If Gosford continues to clean itself up this would be a good suburb to have an IP to rent to commuters. Still won’t get positive cash, should be able to get a 3 bed house for about $280k rent would probably be about $200-$250 per week.