investing in Werribee / Wyndham Vale

Yes the vacancy rates is around 14%. I had a friend build a 4 bedroom house in Point Cook and it took ages to rent. It ended up renting for 330 per week. It cost him 420 for house and land.

Infrastructure lol what infrastructure, they are building a new train station whoop dee doo. Hopefully they put enough parking there as the other two stations in the area are busting at the seems but West Gate freeway is a nightmare. Cook and Wyndham Vale are relatively nice areas and far better than Weribee,

The capital growth isn’t the greatest either.

Pending what your budget is I would be looking for a unit, maybe try Kingsville, Altona, Yarraville etc.

I agree with Fredo's recommendations on those suburbs. It really depends on how much you're looking to spend. If you wish to take a look at property further south, go for something in the inner/ middle suburbs of Geelong, where I think there's good value for money. Proximity to the waterfront (becoming ever more vibrant by the year) is also an attractive thing, and not too difficult to commute to Melbourne.

Johann, good point, recalling that just two days ago there was an article in the newspaper about the Ford plants at Geelong and Broadmeadows being negatively affected when one of their suppliers goes into receivership. I don't have the figures showing how many of Geelong's residents are actually employed in the Ford factory, and there are still other industries in the area (eg. Incitec, a steel mill, Cheetham, CSIRO). Last year there was also an article about a new industrial area coming up to the north of Geelong, which I believe is the Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct (GREP).

Geelong is still an industrial town as some have alluded to. By that, I think they mean it's a 'young' town. Personally I think there is much more to Geelong than just the Ford factory and the place is starting to look like a mini Melbourne, hence I've already parked money there and will just let time work on it. Closure of the Ford factory is a hump that Geelong will have to overcome and I have no doubt that they will.

For Geelong to turn into a ghost town just because of the loss of the factory is unthinkable, and some Melbournians are also wising up to the comparatively good value of property in Geelong. Not saying it is bad for people with a limited budget to be buying in the outer suburbs of Melbourne (I love the houses and the huge suburban backyards), but they should consider Geelong as an alternative.

Retail is doing it tough at the moment unfortunately, and I get the impression that it's quite general across the board. Things in Australia are pretty expensive compared to the prices I'm seeing overseas and online, so I think it's not so much that people have stopped spending. I think they're spending the money elsewhere.

There was a recent article in The Age which talks about vacancy rates in the shops of Geelong. Apparently, vacancy rates in the larger shopping complexes have increased, whereas those of shopfronts at the street level have reduced. I'm not clued-in enough to say what this trend could represent, just echoing what I remember from that article.

Work has resumed at the Ford factories after the initial 'stand down', however only time will tell how much longer the Ford factories are going to hold up. Surely, in times like these, the number of people buying cars has been greatly reduced. Ford apparently has a Korean-manufactured engine that is going to make its way into local cars. The engine is very fuel efficient and has punchy performance. It'd be something to look out for.