What suburbs in VIC & QLD would you recommend investing/buying in?

Well folks, if you want to get away from the spruik then let’s answer the original question… Where would you buy in Qld or Vic?
QLD: The market in SEQ has been pretty soft for a while and there are some good buys – I’d still look around Logan, Beenleigh, Eagleby if you want solid rental returns. For the price you’re quoting, you could afford a house which one would expect to have higher capital growth than a unit (capital growth is quite often linked to the land content of a property, hence houses are expected to appreciate more – usually but not always the rule!). Also look in Brisbane but you might have to be a little luckier.
VIC: I personally reckon the Victorian market is slowing down – you might be better looking up north. If you really want a Victorian property, I’d look somewhere along a growth corridor. You may have missed the boat for places like Frankston or Noble Park, but maybe Melton and Kurunjang aren’t so bad, or even Tarneit in the west?
I hope this helps. Good luck with your property investing!
Cheers,
Den

40 billion, 65 billion, 10000 people being employed……….sounds like a sure thing.
I accept defeat, better get in before it's too late

So what's the ROI in Gladstone? What are the rents being achieved?  I assume the investors are chasing capital growth as not much mention on rents in these posts? I imagine the cost of building in Gladstone is a lot cheaper tan Karratha. And I suppose there is more land available for development in Gladstone/Calliopie than Karratha. The Gold Coast properties have good returns. Lots of workers and students.
So what's the rents in Gladstone?

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For interests sake, I have just rented a 4×2 bedroom house in Glen Eden (Gladstone) for $500 a week.

It is brand new and has been snapped up by a company coming to town for the LNG work.  1 week to lease. They want it for 4 years.

$420k to complete and rents for $500 per week with massive capital growth upside.

Fairly happy with that.

Austy

Hey guys, great to be a part of this, first forum, my suggestion is not to read too much from media publications, they are there for a purpose, go to the area see what is really happening, ask the locals, unfortunately the mining areas seem to hide the real facts of areas.   We can't be too niave.   This positive propagander to the general public will put them in a positive light – this is what they need to do…..look at us and what we have done for the town.   Can you imagine a media publication or a massive mining company allowing negative feedback going into publications – they have the deepest pockests please – with the politics involved, no one has any guarantees with the mining industries.   Just go and take a look at America and some of the towns that were used and now just ghost towns.   Dont want to put a downer on things but look at the big big picture if you are going to invest.    I live in one of these towns.     Lies Lies and Lies

I would look at and research Moorooka (7km's from CBD) and Holland Park (6km's from CBD). Can still buy good property in your price range and have excellent rental returns.

Getting back to the original question. Melbourne metro has certainly slowed down and the rental yields are very low. Rents have not caught up with the explosive growth during the last 18 months.

Regional Victoria is doing quite well as you can find many properties with above 6% yield with solid capital growth. Areas such Ballarat are performing well and set to rise even further after the state government announced that it will be proceeding with the Regional rail link. It is also very interesting to read up on the councils and state governments blue print for Ballarat as it is going to be a major regional hub.

I partially agree with JacM’s comments as Geelong is certainly one of the regional centres to consider, however it should be noted that Geelong has already experienced significant price rises. You would need to ask yourself if you have missed the boat with this one? (median house price is already $476K and vacancy rates are 2.8%). Rental yields are only 4.1% so you’re almost better off buying Melbourne metro with these numbers.

Compare this with Ballarat Central which has a median house price of only $298K and vacancy rates are 1%. You can also find many properties that have 6%+ yields. The numbers just seem to stack up for Ballarat and this will only improve once the train station upgrades ramp up (the upgrades have already commenced).

Wherever you buy, make sure you do the numbers and make an informed business decision.

Great post, xdrew.

Now at the risk of making this look like a spruik, I'm packing in one more vote for Geelong.

As JacM stated, Corio and surrounds offers property that is truly bang for the buck. Imagine this: a 3 bedder on a 600+ sqm block for around $200K. Such property can be found in Norlane, which is even closer to the CBD than Corio. People haven't quite caught on to this: if it takes 50-60 minutes to get from Geelong to the Melbourne CBD (and with reasonable rail access also), and it takes a comparable amount of time to get from an outer suburb into Melbourne city, then Geelong has become an outer suburb. It is no longer a 'regional center'.

I consider Geelong to be a real gem. It's starting to look more and more like Melbourne city itself, except better planned, less congestion and no trams. Even some of the street names make you think of the Melbournian counterparts. It is no longer the sleepy hamlet I remember it to be, about 10 years ago. If you live in Geelong, there's still plenty of employment opportunities, or you could commute to Melbourne for work. The atmosphere is far less stressful, almost holiday-like. And to me, a holiday atmosphere within easy commute to work is a real plus point.

There have been a number of articles over the years that talk about areas of the Surf Coast being popular with a wide demographic of people, ranging from the retirees to young professionals. Personally, I've been looking to the north of Geelong, at areas like Drumcondra, Rippleside and St Helens (the beachside area of North Geelong). There's lovely period housing in these areas, walking distance to the water's edge, and in the case of the latter two areas, an easy walk to North Geelong train station, 5 minutes drive into the CBD, house-proud owner-occupiers…and you can still buy houses in Rippleside for less than $450K (at time of writing).

If you're actually worried about climate change and rising sea levels, well, don't. Take a drive down to Rippleside and see for yourself that the houses are actually reasonably elevated above sea level. It'd take a tsunami to bring these houses down.

There was also a recent article in The Age that describes plans for a new industrial center to the north of Corio that would bring jobs into that suburb and Norlane. I presume the intention is to get this kicked off before the reign of car manufacturing in Geelong comes to an end. It could take a number of years, but the gentrification of North Geelong and Norlane is inevitable. As it stands, the old Rippleside shipyard is about to be transformed into low-rise, luxury waterfront apartments with private marina, and I've at least read about plans to turn the North Geelong golf course into a golf-links residential estate. There's a lot going for this area, IMO.

This might sound a bit far-fetched, but I reckon Drumcondra, Rippleside and St Helens are well set to become the trendy inner suburbs of Geelong. They lack the 'hip' and 'gritty' factor of suburbs such as St Kilda because of the really quiet streets and parks and the lack of cool cafes in the immediate area, but that's not to say they can't be popular with the yuppies.

Note: I have a house in St Helens/ Rippleside, so if you want to take the above info as a spruik, that's understandable. But just have a think about it: a 3 bed/ 2 bath/ double carport detached house on land (about 400 sqm) so close to the bay you can smell the sea, and a rental yield of 4.35%. When the tide is right, you can even walk to the nearby jetty, do some fishing and walk back home. Try getting something like this near Melbourne!

Also, a couple more areas that I like: Werribee South, again for proximity to the beach, although by the looks of things, it's miles away from most things.

Mount Eliza: already ritzy, but that doesn't mean the potential doesn't exist. I predict the area to become a playground for well-heeled baby boomers in the future (if it isn't already).

Alternatively, if you believe what people say about housing being overpriced, and the property market set to crash to the tune of 40%, you're better off waiting. Who knows, Geelong's median price could drop to $290K. Sorry, couldn't resist.