Hi,
I was hoping to get a second opinion before going ahead with an offer for a property in South Hedland. Was wondering if anyone with expertise in the area could give an idea of the sentiment and vacancy rates, rents, and future devolpments that might be happening in the area. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I live in Karratha 229 km aprox s of hedland. I would be cautious with both port and south hedland due to the fact the bhp iron brickette plant has closed. As far as I am aware there ar4e only a few strong industries there, the port some cattle stations and some mining.
I would be more inclined to suggest purchacing in Karratha as it has a larger industry base, with better facilities. Returns would be very simular. South hedland does not have the prestige of Karratha and often the butt of jokes (personal opinion).
Ouch lukis p,
that hurt my feelings! I have often wondered why every-one thinks Karratha is sooooooo much better than Hedland! Perhaps it is because you have Roeburn to keep your riff-raff (oooooo that’s nasty!).BHP Billiton have closed Boodarie’s doors and wont be operating it ever, but that doesn’t mean nobody else will! Nelson Point and Finucane Islan (both BHPB) are beingf expanded from 100mt per annum to 140mt and they will need an operating work force to go with that. We have FMG comming to Town (40mt projected), Gina Reinheart (Hopedowns) is looking to come into Hedland (another 40mt p.a.) not to mention what will happen to the B.I. plant and its new owners (it will cost BHPB too much to reswtoer the site to it’s original glory so they will sell it off!). One plan is to re-start it as it was, another is to turn it into a fertilizer plant, still another is to converti it to produce explosives.
Karratha appears to be nicer, when you first visti, but there isn’t that much of a difference. I think the ‘We are better than you’ thing is so over rated! Look at what is available, do you ‘due dilligence’ and then make a decision that suits your risk profile! Boom-boom, end of story. Either way, both Towns are over priced and, yet both seem to manage to be CF+.
PS – we haven’t had any cattle stations in Hedland for quite some time now! They tend to be 40 odd K’s out of town and don’t have much bearing on our lives……
My opinions anyway (poopoo them if you like!).
Cheers
C@34
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the help guys, I think the fact that both towns might be overprice scars me a little. Is there towns in W.A.that still have potential for growth or are not over priced that are still cashflow positive.
Kalgoorlie has seen some good capital growth over the last year and also has some good CF+ properties available. PM me or E-mail me if you want more info.
OMG! I was born and lived in Tom Price until I was 7! I have not hear names like Karratha and Port Headland in ages!!!
What’s Tom PRice like these days!!!????
pasandbec
Hot and Dry!
Don’t know realy, haven’t been there! LOL
Cheers
C@34
I would say go for it. I own property in south hedland and it has been no hassles. It was already positive cashflow when I bought it. The rents are generally quite high. I you can get GEHA or BHP to lease your property out you will be garenteed rent (even when there is no one living there), and they are always looking for new properties. for my property i payed $205k and the rent is $375/week. There is talk of development in the town (expanding BHP) which means house prices may go up.
In response to Lukis’s reply, I would also recomend buying in Karratha. The rent is very simular but the land value is rising higher than in hedland. As a result the cost of buying property is a lot more expensive, but it may be worth it in the long run. You can also rent your property out to GEHA there too, which means you dont have to worry about the house being empty.
Turnby,
There are cheaper WA regional cash flow positive properties than Hedland/Karratha if your uncomfortable with their prices!! Try looking towards the east perhaps!!!
best of luck
sq[biggrin]
Or down South!?
Bunbury is/has gone off; Geraldton is doing well atm. WA is the last affordable fronteer in Oz, come and have a look, others are.Cheers
C@34
for anyone interested, these stats for Pilbara region were in paper recently:
Top 3 Pilbara Towns
Capital Growth
over 5 years
Newman – 12.6%Karratha/Dampier – 7.9%
Capital Growth – 12 months
Newman – 42.1%
Onslow – 10.0%
Karratha/Dampier – 5.8%Hi Marissa,
Was Hedland mentioned anywhere or was it not inclued?!If it wasn’t, that wouldn’t surprise me as there is a funny kind of”rivalry” going on between Hedland and Karratha. Hedland is mostly depicted as the ugly sister of Karratha. One example that comes to mind immediately is when a cyclone crosses onto land between the two Towns (and unless it is remarkably closer to Hedland) only Karratha will make it onto the news. Don’t know why, but it does.
Sorry Marissa, got side tracked, was Hedland mentioned? I haven’t been able to get any growth figures for here at all.
Cheers
C@34
Hi Calvin@34
Unfortunely only provided TOP 3 towns.
However some interesting and positive info on redevelopment of Pt Hedland and South Hedland and various projects in the pipeline –
One mentioned was a new residential development at Pretty Pool which will create about 180 new home sites in Sth Hedland. You probably already know about this one.[biggrin]
Also rental yields on average 15%-16%.
The massive CG for Newman was partly due to BHP building a new crusher at Newman so there has been an influx of workers looking for accommodation. Pushing prices up in the short term.
Hope this is of some help to you.
[biggrin]
CHeers Marisa,
One mentioned was a new residential development at Pretty Pool which will create about 180 new home sites in Sth Hedland. You probably already know about this oneYes, but I also believe it has been shelved until further notice because to build each house will cost a minimum of $330K and, now that Boodarie Iron is being mothballed there will be heaps of BHP houses becomming available. Roumor has it that handover will be in Dec 05, so God willing, we’ll be off making bricks! Who knows…….
Cheers
C@34
I would be positive about the future for Hedland despite the impending Boodarie closure. Someone mentioned other BHPB expansion projects coming on line, I believe this is the case.
The recent massive increase in demand for iron ore for China is only just beginning to create positive spin off effects, the end to this demand is no where in sight. All of the North West port towns will prosper. I know for example that the mine I work at is looking to increase its workforce, and production, by 50% over the next few years, all of the ore is shipped through Hedland… There are ways other than this however that the town will benefit, for example from the extra camp construction that is required will be contracted through local builders, down to an increase in hire vehicles from town, and many other ways beside.On the whole I think the long term outlook for the Northwest is quite positive.
MoJoJo,
I concurr!
Big word for this early in the morning – nearly pulled a braincell……
Cheers
C@34
hi there
just reading the employment column of the West is enough.There are columns of mining companies and consulting companies advertising for mining related jobs. I recall a time where engineers were going overseas for employment – now we are screaming for them.
We live between Karratha and Port Hedland. It is unlikely that someone from out of town would feel comfortable buying up here at the moment because you don’t get time to do your due diligence before the place you are looking at has been sold. So we have had to brave and leap into the market. Remembering we have lived here for 10 years and know what is going on with industry up here. (A lot of positive stuff).
In Karratha blocks of land have been going up for sale on a Monday morning for the past 4 weeks. Within an hour they have sold. We purchased one in week 2 and by week 4 it has gained in value by $30,000. We paid $202,000 for a 832sqm block in the newest area of Karratha. I prefer Baynton (the newest suburb) as it is higher up and further back incase of tidal surge in a cyclone. Then we started trying to find a builder. We were quoted $380,000 for a 4 by 2. Quite a plain but solid style of house. The rent would be $750 – $800 per week. That is on hold as we are going to try to work in with others in a similar situation and get our own builder up to do it for less for a group of house.
I got home from work yesterday and my partner was all excited and wanting to put an offer on a 3 by 2 in South Hedland. We had never even looked at South Hedland before today. Apparently there are a few very positive mining related deals happening that will increase the need for houses to rent in Port and South Hedland. We had our offer accepted and we are going to see the house on Sunday. If you look at real estate in South Hedland they all have offers on them. Rents at the moment are at about 8% rental return which isn’t great. But if South Hedland has the boom Karratha has experienced (which it will) then within 2 years our rental return should be 11.66%.
We can see the value of both South Hedland and Karratha but Karratha is just so expensive to get into the loop.Good luck all you fellow investors.
[biggrin]Hi debbrad,
I am keen to hear more about W.A. market as I was visiting there 2 years ago and very impressed and would like to have a reason to get back over to visit family n friends, also anyone else whom has detail on the market??
Mostly family and friends are Perth and down south all the way to the bottom…
Regards, Jarrah
“ask and you shall recieve”
Sincerely, Jarrah
++CASH FLOW PROPERTY HUNTER
(your not hunting if your not hungry)[email protected]
Climbing & Consulting
Arboricultural Services
0431433288“be ye angels?”,
“nay we are but MEN!”Hi Jarrah,
It would probably be helpful for someone wanting to understand the market here to do a little reading on how the mining companies are doing. Some of the company names up here are RioTinto, Woodside, BHP, or do a general search under Mining Pilbara latest news. They seem to be constantly finding new deposits of iron ore etc.
It is hard to know if we are doing the right thing and that is why I kept putting the breaks on for so long. I get analysis paralysis. My partner just goes for it. Between us both I hope there is enough balance to get it right.
Due diligence is difficult as there are not always long term stats on towns up here. Some of the towns have been closed mining towns for years and only recently become Shire owned. The housing shortage is so bad that now companies are shruggling to get enough workers because they can’t house them. Local infrastructure also struggles due to housing shortages and massive rent hikes which are beyond the salary of everyday people. To solve this problem huge sections of land are being released. Currently they are selling about 20 blocks per week. Over the next 2 years they will probably release about 500 blocks in total. There would easily be 500 people who could move into completed houses so I don’t think the market will be flooded. If anything everything will probably just plateau. But the Karratha market is already at it’s peak.
South Hedland is an area I know nothing about until yesterday when we put the offer in for a house there. It is probably most helpful if I keep everyone up dated with how we go with it – the positives and negatives of me letting go of the reigns.
We have had 3 cyclones over the past 4 weeks so that is another thing to consider up here and knowing where the tidal surge would be predicted to go. If you buy in an area that is too low then everytime there is a cyclone your tenants are told to vacate the house and stay at the local highschool overnight. (not fun). You can get info on that from Roebourne Shire Council.
If I manage to find a building inspector for the place in South Hedland I will be asking him/her to check how cyclone safe it is.[biggrin]
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