According to realestate.com.au, based on the number of properties listed for sale in a particular suburb combined with the number of visits on the website to homes in that suburb, Sutherland and the northern beaches are where most people in Sydney want to live, with home buyers seeking a mix of lifestyle and infrastructure.
The latest Sydney’s real estate hot spots, Jannali, Heathcote, Bangor and Engadine, all in the far south of the city, drew the most hits on realestate.com.au during the biggest selling season of the year.
They filled the list of the city’s top 10 most popular suburbs in terms of both listings and visits to properties, along with northern beaches areas Narraweena, North Balgowlah and Allambie Heights. The only suburb close to the city which made the most popular list was Lilyfield.
The most clicked-on suburbs in the south were in the affordable belt of the Sutherland Shire, where the beaches and transport to the city are close by. The northern suburbs were not as affordable but were still close to beaches and in leafy, attractive areas.
The results showed home buyers preferred established suburbs, close to infrastructure and lifestyle options rather than new housing developments on the fringes of the metropolitan area, said Real Estate Institute of NSW director Christian Payne.
“Our current planning laws are not giving people the options they want,” Mr Payne said. “There is not enough medium density development in established areas. You can still buy a big house on a brand new block of land far from the city but this shows most people want to be closer to waterways and established hubs.
“It’s not about the McMansion any more and having the most bedrooms and bathrooms. People know if they can live closer to work in a smaller, more practical home they’ll have lower rates, petrol and transport costs and more likely will be closer to friends and family.”
It’s really a lot more practical to just buy an established property than to build your own from the scratch. But of course if you have the budget, you shouldn’t hesitate to build a good property investment that would satisfy you.
Melbourne homes have lost $200 in value every day for the past nine months to September 2011.
The value of property sold in Victoria in the past financial year plummeted almost 20 per cent – the biggest drop in a decade.
Melbourne’s median house price is now about $551,000, down $50,000 from its peak last December.
This makes sense that to buy an established proeprty in Melbourne as investment.