Yes, I do own an apartment in South Melbourne, which is extremely close to Southbank. My comments are not based on the attempt to talk-up the area, purely based on my experiences in this area over the last 3 years in total.
The commercial realities for owners and renters are self-evident ie depressed prices, subdued rents. I just don’t see the demographics of the area turning this area into a slum. Time will tell though.
James
Originally posted by kay henry:I thought my request for discolure wopuld have been fairly easily understood. Please Jo, don’t try to engage me in the kind of personalised arguments you have with others on here. I was asking george a question- my question to him was not hostile, so I’d ask you to take your derisive comments and argue with someone who cares.
Kay, forgive me if my plea for clarification appeared as a trying “to engage in a personalised” argument; I was merely asking for a straight answer. Point taken, the question was for George, and as such, I am more than happy to bow out; I just didn’t understand what you were asking!!! Okay, none of my business….Sorry….[glum2]
Arguments are the least of what I hope to achieve in posting in here, but obviously you seem to think otherwise of me. I am not out to change your opinion of me, what you think is your business. What I would like answered here, only because you didn’t have the decency to reply outside of the forum, was HAVE I UPSET YOU IN SOME WAY????? If you prefer please feel free to answer through a PM, as I had done weeks ago to which you so kindly ignormed.
Jo
P.S. I deleted the rhetorical question in my earlier post, which quite clearly, could be perceived as argumentative, my apologies for that!!george- thanks
I am sure howard, the original poster, will appreciate the opinions of those who own in the area, as well as those who have done research about the area. I am sure you could see where I was coming from, george.kay henry
Understand completely Kay.
Docklands was mentioned before. I know in looking there to rent at the start of the year, I thought that the facilities ie shopping, proximity to places going out other than Docklands, was a bit far. Anyhow, I don’t think people say in Melbourne yet, lets go out tonight and go to Dockland. When people come and visit there are limited places for people to park (without being charged). Weekends are a real issue.
The rents are still higher than Southbank (as you would expect, newer buildings, arguably better facilities etc). 1br start at around $300pw & 2br @ $380pw. I think the vision for the area
is spot on, I think it will take some time for it to become reality. Don’t forget, there is construction in the Docklands precinct (ie residential towers) for the next 6-7 years.Of course, if Collingwood played all its home games at Docklands Stadium, I might think differently[biggrin]
James
Brahms
My original strategy was to be in for 2 years and then sell out. From my perspective given the roughly 2 year cycle of currency fluctuations between the Australian Dollara nd Sterling I am thinking my losses would be lessened, and basing any (hopeful) sale at approx. 280K over the currnet ‘from; price that the developers are offering of 300K.
What others may not appreciate is the fast groth in orices in UK property which are fueling this and many other countries property markets. In our press we keep seeing figures of up to half those over 50 wanting to live elsewhere, Spain, France and Australia being the top 3 places.
My wife was keen on Oz but is now not so keen with our dealings in the proprty there.
Hi redweb
Don’t let your wife be put off by one dealing with a market that has a potential to be oversupplied for at least the next few years.
As you can see from this discussion, some people are positive on the long term aspects of the area, and there are many other areas that you could also invest in – to spread the risk, and perhaps have a better return over the next 4 years or so…
I think that if you can afford to hold onto your property for a few years (see James 6-7 year timeframe) you should come out a winner. I would keep a close eye on the market in the coming months, as I believe there are quite a few developments coming up for completion that some buyers may well not settle on. If you are in a position to purchase further properties, you may find one that is lower (ie realistically) priced, with good potential for future…
Cheers
MelMel
MelThanks for the encouragement. Having found this forum and now seen the state of the market in Melbourne, I will make the purchase (pulling out will be open eneded and very expensive) having seen the prices now on Domain.com.au. At least my UK property is holding its price. I don’t however see us buying any further into the Australian market as I don’t have the stomach for it and having retired early last year at 52 need to maintain my assets.
Regards Steve
Just my $0.02…..a friend of a friend of a friend happened to work on several of the towers that were built in Southbank and Docklands.
They recently told me, that if anyone was considering buying an apartment down there, to try to make sure they do an inspection on a really windy day. Seems some of the towers move (they are not office buildings and aren’t built like them) and the lifts don’t work when the building’s swaying so much….fancy lugging your groceries up 13 flights of stairs.
Quality of construction AND fitout would perhaps be best placed near the top of the due diligence checklist?
However, as I said, it’s hearsay (from a qualified person).
skippygirl :0)
hehe- swaying buildings… the IP, my friend, is blowing in the wind..
Seriously, I reckon people should wait a few years – instead of buying off the plan- to find out what kinds of problems exist- such as the swaying building scenario! If you buy a few after the place is built, the problems are identified and should have been fixed, and you won;t have the drama of worrying about it, or paying special levies when the builders refuse to take responsibility.
Ahhh… docklands and southbank- some of my favourite topics
kay henry
My advise to anyone outside Australia considering a Southbank Central Equity off-plan purchase would be to checek local market rates and conditions before making a move. CE are selling considerbly higher than the resale market even now. Its amazing how quick a letter ariives from the solicitors if there is any sign of defaulting on the deal.
My opinions of Southbank OTP investments. I think that Far East investors are gamblers and speculators, some do buy for their children studying in Melbourne for long term.Some are filthy rich so holding power can be there but mostly speculators.But rich is not equal to dumb.Another reasons I agree that the Eastern suburbs are better investments and really the apartments towers(we call them condominiums over here in Asia) are mass produced,there are no real land,normally it does not matter if the house is a dump but the location is important so we equate value to the land.And,think demand and supply,you realise that thousands of units are available for rental with the same design .Your demand cannot be mainly driven by foreign demands,there must be some foundamentals,like local demand,the real value and not just hyped up value.
Asia is going for build and sell and OTP is getting unpopular. The sucessful condominiums are those that manage to brand very well and with top class facilities.There are always exceptions to the rule.Another thing,if you are English or any other, and looking to retire,have a look at Malaysia’s second home program.
cheers!
Melvin ChaiMelvin :o)
Yep, the eastern suburbs are a very good long-term investment in Melbourne, I think. Good old establishment areas- I think you can’t go wrong with them. I think the OTP markets are skewing the melbourne market in general. I don’t think the eastern suburbs will suffer drastically. You have generations of families who will always create demand there.
Melvin, could you explain a little more about Malaysia’s second home program? Or provide a link to info about it, please?
kay henry
I’m not sure the slum comments will hold true, as a comparison to the CBD southbank is much quieter and has a fairly upmarket feel especially along the yarra, I have rented here for 2 years and you get some noise which is mainly related to people coming from the casino plus some lots of younger people from nearby clubs but overall it is not particularly bad.
Worth noting that a lot of very high quality stock will be on the market also in the next couple of years with freshwater place/eureka being finished. Read in the paper recently about one person buying a whole floor apartment for $10 million in freshwater place.
Originally posted by kay henry:Huge apartment blocks with hundreds of units in each of them, no points of differentiation…
kay henry
I agree, this is the major problem at the moment in the Docklands area. However, not all developments are suffering this problem at the moment. For example,the Flinder’s Wharf development is just about fully leased, 5 months after completion.
So it’s not all doom & gloom if you haven’t got to sell. While I’m getting depreciation allowances of $25k per year and can easily lease my apartment, I’m really not worried at all.
JP
are you sure about flinders wharf?, I read an article in the paper some time ago reporting that agents Butler and co were trying to see around 70 apartments in that block and had only managed to sell 2 over a period of several months, I had assumed these couldn’t be sold before completion sounded like it was the developer trying to sell them.
Originally posted by jparrie:Originally posted by kay henry:Huge apartment blocks with hundreds of units in each of them, no points of differentiation…
kay henry
I agree, this is the major problem at the moment in the Docklands area. However, not all developments are suffering this problem at the moment. For example,the Flinder’s Wharf development is just about fully leased, 5 months after completion.
here are some examples, half that development is for sale, maybe the ones actually sold are close to fully leased,
Yes, that is correct, there are (give or take) 70 for sale. However, there are only 6 still for lease by Butler & Co from an original list a couple of months back of well over one hundred.
To sell in the current market is foolhardy.My point was that if you are unfortunate to have a unit in the Docklands/Southbank area, then at least if you have one in a good position (ie, Flinders Wharf), at least you can be reasonably assured of leasing it.
Girlie girls, Kay n’ Jo. what was with the catfight earlier in the thread ?
You’re supposed to be moderators ??The original topic posted by Howard was in regard to his position as a non aussie and therefore being restricted by FIRB requirements as to what he can purchase in Australia.
No point advising him to look at established suburbs, and property with land as he does not qualify to purchase it.KP
kp,
IMO it was not a catfight, nevertheless I understand your scolding [glum2] it was inappropriate (on my part anyways).
Jo
George,
When you said that 1-bedders in southbank start @ $300 a week rent and $380 for 2-bedders.. what would be the average purchase price of those units?
I am thinking that rent $$$ in itself doesn;t mean much- because if the units are 300k, then they are yielding 5% or if they are 600k, they are only yielding 2% (or whatever it is).
What’s the average % yield in the area do you think, george?
kay henry
I am sure howard, the original poster, will appreciate the opinions of those who own in the area, as well as those who have done research about the area. I am sure you could see where I was coming from, george.
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