Newsletter - Inner Circle April 2018

Inner Circle

Infrastructure is on the agenda

First of all, happy Easter! We hope you are enjoying a well-deserved break. While you are enjoying the long weekend, we wanted to ensure you’re up to date on the latest goings on in the property market.

What’s topical at the moment? Infrastructure. And we’re happy about it. Infrastructure, and particularly public transport, is the key to a great city, so the recent announcement that the Melbourne Metro Tunnel is on track to operate a year earlier than estimated is welcome news indeed.

Greater infrastructure is crucial for our city, especially in light of growing congestion that is only likely to become more of an issue as our population increases. We’re the most liveable city, and we want to stay that way.

For those who haven’t heard about it, the $11 billion Melbourne Metro is an underground rail project creating a new line with five stations in the CBD that will take traffic away from the city loop. It’s set to be completed in 2025.

Also making news this month in terms of future planning was the identification of eight planned hubs around Melbourne to help decentralise the city, further helping to ease congestion and take people out of the CBD.  A PwC report called CityPulse identified these ‘priority precincts’ as Monash, La Trobe, Fishermans Bend, Flinders St-Richmond rail corridor, Parkville, Docklands, East Werribee and Arden-Macaulay. The Arden precinct will be formed from the Melbourne Metro project, with the hub to incorporate a train station and development.

If you want advice about how the Melbourne Metro will impact the area in which you’re planning to buy, contact us for some advice today. 

First homebuyers are more active

Last year the Victorian Government reduced stamp duty for first homebuyers to encourage them to get into the market, and this measure has had some effect.

There are definitely more first homebuyers who are active in the market, but the increase is occurring largely as a consequence of reduced investor numbers due to tighter lending policies and higher interest rates for these buyers. While investors are still around their numbers have dropped significantly, with many of the agents we deal with reporting that first homebuyers are the main purchasers in the market, especially between $500,000 and $750,000.

First homebuyers are being enticed with low interest rates and are buying in middle ring metro suburbs such as Mill Park, Glenroy, South Morang and Reservoir. But they’re also buying in regional areas; towns such as Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat are booming, as buyers are seeing value and bang for buck in the price brackets below $600,000. Local lifestyle, amenity, schooling and proximity to Melbourne are all contributing to first homebuyers moving to these areas. Why sit in traffic for 2 hours commuting from Point Cook to the CBD on a freeway when you can sit on the train for 1 hour and comfortably commute from Ballarat while reading or working at the same time?

Prices are being driven up as a result of the first homebuyer activity in the market, and the fact that they have more money to spend due to the stamp duty changes. This can be seen in the middle western and northern suburbs of Melbourne between 10 and 15 kilometres from the city. Properties including older villa units, new townhouses and houses on subdivided blocks, with the original house selling in the sub $650,000 mark, are popular.

In regional areas so many homes are getting snapped up it’s also driving vacancy rates down, causing issues for tenants.

If you’re a first homebuyer or investor looking to purchase, Property Mavens can help you make the right decision.

Contact us today for an obligation-free discussion. 

Property Mavens has a long and proud history of helping buyers purchase investment-grade properties as owner-occupied residences or investments, and while we always recommend clients hold well-bought assets, weathering any ups and downs, we also help sellers to get the best result if they have to sell.

Have you heard about our new vendor advocacy service? It includes:

• An independent assessment of your property’s likely market value
• Advice on any maintenance needed to enhance your property’s appeal
• Managing the sale to achieve the best possible result
• Handling real estate agents and other intermediaries to ensure they provide the best service possible

 

After successfully assisting our client Chris with 5 vendor advocacy sales, we helped him buy his new home within 8 days of engagement by having a clear process and purchase strategy, set in place before his inspection.  We were able to pip another buyer at the post by negotiating terms and getting the selling agent on our side immediately after the inspection and before we placed our offer, knowing that another buyer was putting forward their offer the very next day.  The purchase and due diligence was all turned around within 5 hours of the inspection, with a very happy client as a result.

If you would like help with purchasing an investment-grade property like this one, click here to book a time with us to discuss your requirements. It’s 100% obligation free.

Ripponlea

One of our clients, Narelle, had been looking for a home for 18 months before engaging our services.

Working together we were able to help Narelle refine her homebuyer brief, which allowed her to get clear on her needs, financial goals and how much she actually needed to spend to secure her dream home.

By accepting our advice, Narelle revised her brief from wanting a 2-bedroom apartment in St Kilda to buying a single fronted 2-bedroom home in the tightly held suburb of Ripponlea, which represented excellent value for money and a fantastic asset from which to leverage in the future. She understood after working with us that it was imperative that her own home had strong underlying investment fundamentals and growth drivers, so that equity gains could be used to purchase more property in the future.

We purchased the investment-grade Ripponlea property in 2013 for $715,000 and 5 years later it’s now worth more than $1.2 million, representing a 68 % return, or more than 13% growth per year, nearly 18% more than the overall market growth over the same period. Narelle is now able to fulfill her goal of being able to purchase an investment property and grow her portfolio due to the impressive equity gain.

If you want to purchase and investment grade home like this one, click here to book a time with us to discuss your requirements. It’s 100% obligation free.

If you want to invest or buy the right home for your budget, click here to book a time, or call us for a chat about securing your financial independence.

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Property Mavens - Smart Property Buying