How do Melbourne’s areas compare?

1. Inner City

Melbourne’s inner city core has a population of around 29,450 people, a figure that is expected to double to 59,900 over the next 20 years.

As a result, there is much more property development activity in Melbourne CBD than anywhere else in the larger metropolitan area, with the majority of these developments comprising of high-density high-rise apartment buildings.

The area of Southbank, just south of Melbourne’s CBD, currently boasts over 9,000 distinct dwellings, the majority of which are family households (45%).

The number of residential properties is set to rise to more than 26,000 over the next 20 years.

Currently, I’m worried by a large number of poorly built inner-city apartments on the market or planned for completion.

Many, in fact, most of these are being bought by overseas investors and as these are likely to become the slums of the future.

Just to make things clear…I would avoid this segment of the Melbourne property market.

2. Bayside and South-Eastern Suburbs

Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs boast distinct communities, neighbourhood attributes, and differing property growth cycles.

However while intricate, they’re considered by many to be the best Melbourne property investment suburbs.

The inner south-eastern and bayside suburbs of Melbourne make great locations to invest.

3. Eastern Suburbs 

These include some of the most affluent areas of Melbourne – the residents of the eastern suburbs enjoy a median personal income of $1,164 per week, according to ABS figures.

Around 33% of properties are owned outright or mortgaged here, with 20% of housing comprised of townhouses or semi-detached homes, and only 33% of residential properties being high-rise apartments.

This is a dramatic difference from the inner city, where apartments are the dominant dwelling type.

The inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne also boast some great investment locations.

4. Western & Northern Suburbs

While the outskirts of Melbourne’s west and north is home to several of the city’s fastest-growing outer-suburban areas including Truganina, which increased by 18%, Tarneit (16%), Point Cook (12%), Melton South (11%) and Wyndham Vale (10%).

However, these more blue-collar areas have lower average wages growth and therefore lower ability to sustain capital growth.

While these areas are experiencing strong population growth and they have enjoyed strong capital growth over the last few years as the rising tide of the strong Melbourne property market lifted all ships, now that the cycle has reached its mature stage, many of these locations, especially the blue-collar suburbs will struggle.

In general, there are better investment opportunities in Melbourne’s inner eastern and south-eastern suburbs.

Melbourne has high standards 

Melbourne has been named as the world’s most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability survey for 7 years in a row and for very good reason!

Boasting excellent healthcare services, premium education facilities (including world-class universities), a stable and diverse economy, solid investment in infrastructure and a thriving, creative culture, it’s easy to see why Melbourne received an overall score of 97.5 out of 100.

With such a high standard of living and ready access to good quality facilities and amenities, it comes as no surprise that people continue to choose to call Melbourne home.

In addition, with over 120 suburbs with a median house price of over $1million, Melbourne has the second-highest median price in the country (behind Sydney).

Avoid Melbourne’s poor-quality apartments

Just because Melbourne has a well-deserved reputation for quality, that doesn’t mean the city is flawless – far from it.

In fact, the Melbourne CBD (Central Business District) is riddled with poor quality apartments, with one report stating that an estimated 55 percent of the city’s tallest apartment buildings are of “poor” quality, with common design flaws.

 

No one wants to live in a sub-standard apartment, regardless of how affordable it is, and there are only so many people who would find a hotel-sized apartment appropriate for full-time living.

The fact that an estimated 40 percent of apartments in Melbourne are smaller than 50 square meters, according to the Melbourne City Council’s planning department, shows just how big this issue has become – particularly when you consider that the minimum size a single bedroom apartment can be in Sydney, London and Adelaide is 50m2 or above.

Not only are the apartments lacking in breathing room – literally – they’re also flawed in a number of other ways, with kitchens placed in hallways, a lack of ventilation and natural light, and poor storage.

All of these design faults make these types of developments less attractive to potential tenants, which reduces the desirability of these properties.

Investors would be well advised to steer clear of apartments that don’t tick all the boxes.

Shoebox-sized living spaces, alongside common design flaws in the building itself, should raise some serious red flags for buyers.

The problem is many overseas buyers are purchasing these properties which will become the slums of the future.

Look for Melbourne’s best properties in the inner and middle-ring suburbs. 

Studies – and time – have shown that properties close to the city’s CBD (but not in it) and in bayside suburbs close to the water will increase in value more quickly than other properties and suburbs.

The demand for property is higher in these regions, as there is no land available for release, but the areas remain close to employment or desired locations.

Not only are properties closer to the CBD closer have better access to amenities and more employment opportunities, but transport costs are often lower and, as a result, people are willing to pay a premium to live there.

The end result for property investors in Melbourne is that the inner and middle-ring suburbs will (generally) out-perform the averages for suburbs located further from the city.

Be mindful of a Melbourne inner-city apartment oversupply

Melbourne’s property market has been typified by strong population growth and to keep up with surging housing demand, there have been a huge number of new developments – mostly in the form of high-rise apartment buildings, in and around the CBD – that have been approved.

While the population growth, Mainly from overseas migrants, was soaking up soaking up much of this new dwelling stock, the CBD is now over-supplied with too many new apartments.

With too many development projects either completed, begun or approved in recent years, the risk for property investors in Melbourne is that there is currently an oversupply of properties in and around Melbourne’s CBD.

And until our international borders are open, and tourists and in particular students return, it is likely that this oversupply will be soaked up meaning there will be no capital growth and sluggish rental growth on your investment – so avoid Melbourne CBD and near CBD properties.

Make the most of Melbourne properties through negative gearing

While most investors understand the concept of negative gearing, just in case you’re not up to speed, here’s a quick refresher:

A property is negatively geared when the costs of owning it – interest on the loan, bank charges, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation – exceed the income it produces.

Since the costs of producing an income are generally deductible against the taxpayer’s other income, property investors can effectively offset some of the interest expense against their wages.

Why would anyone go into a business deal to make a loss?

Generally, it’s because property investors in Melbourne hope that their income losses will be more than offset by their capital gains when they eventually sell (or refinance) their property.

And in Australia capital gain is not taxed unless you sell your property, and then it is concessionally taxed; again evoking the argument that it favors wealthy landlords.

Of course, negative gearing is more favorable for taxpayers who earn high incomes and just to make things clear…
Negative gearing is not an investment strategy – it’s just the way a property is financed at a particular point in time.