well-money-ceo-scott-spencer-construction-background-feature
Well Money’s CEO Scott Spencer, the company commissioning the research. Image: Supplied; The Property Tribune.
  • The list includes investment grade suburbs where buyers have a negotiating edge
  • The edge is determined by considering price growth over the past decade
  • Only five metro suburbs made the top 20

With the cost of almost everything rising across the board, which suburbs can you invest in with confidence?

Research commissioned by Well Money has found the top 20 investment-grade suburbs where buyers have a negotiating edge.

The company determined the top 20 suburbs by considering two main points: places where demand is softening and therefore favouring buyers, and where owners had at least 70% price growth over the past decade and therefore buyers know vendors could afford to sell for a 10% discount.

Well Money then filtered out suburbs:

  • That had a SEIFA socio-economic score of four or less,
  • Where the share of rental housing was less than 10%,
  • Where the vacancy rate was 1.5% or more,
  • Where the yield was 3% or less, and
  • Where the inventory level was six months or more.

To ensure the suburb favoured buyers, the research also excluded suburbs:

  • That had fewer than five listings,
  • Where the number of listings had grown by less than 3 month on month, and
  • Where the inventory level was 1 month or less.

And finally, the research considered the aforementioned 70% price growth criterion to ensure buyers could have plenty of bargaining power.

The rankings were based on net price gain over the past 10 years.

What did the research find?

Of the top 20, five suburbs were in metropolitan areas with the remainder in regional locations. Also, of the top 20, 18 were suburbs where houses are the preferred investment, with the remainder unit markets.

The top 20 suburbs are situated in New South Wales (13), Queensland (5), Victoria (1) and Tasmania (1).

“Every one of these 20 suburbs has enjoyed a net price gain of at least 107% over the past decade. Furthermore, they all have a vacancy rate under 1.5%. So the data suggests these are locations that would be easy for investors to rent out right now and would probably enjoy strong capital growth over the long-term,” said Well Money CEO, Scott Spencer.

“Also, these are suburbs where investors have a negotiating advantage right now, for a
couple of reasons. First, demand has been falling in these locations. Second, if investors
reacted by offering a 10% discount, they’d know vendors would probably be able to accept because they’d be surrendering only a small share of the considerable profit they’d made over the past decade.

Mr Spencer also noted that, “It’s important for investors to carefully examine their financial position before taking action, because it’s risky to buy if you’re not confident you could repay a mortgage if interest rates were to continue to rise.”

The top 20

Rank State Suburb Postcode Property type 10-year gain
1 NSW St Huberts Island 2257 House 174%
2 NSW Empire Bay 2257 House 174%
3 QLD Tugun 4224 House 151%
4 QLD Currumbin Waters 4223 House 151%
5 NSW Woongarrah 2259 House 135%
6 QLD Twin Waters 4564 House 132%
7 NSW Horningsea Park 2171 House 118%
8 NSW Bilambil Heights 2486 House 118%
9 NSW Winmalee 2777 House 117%
10 TAS Hobart 7000 Unit 116%
11 NSW Albion Park 2527 House 116%
12 NSW Ropes Crossing 2760 House 116%
13 NSW Dee Why 2099 Unit 116%
14 VIC Marong 3515 House 115%
15 NSW Cooranbong 2265 House 115%
16 NSW Prestons 2170 House 114%
17 NSW Fern Bay 2295 House 114%
18 NSW Hamilton North 2292 House 114%
19 QLD Little Mountain 4551 House 107%
20 QLD Meridan Plains 4551 House 107%

The details

St Huberts Island (Gosford, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $1,500,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 174%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.54 years
Suburb inventory level 2.1 months
Vacancy rate 0.0%

Empire Bay (Gosford, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $950,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 174%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.54 years
Suburb inventory level 1.1 months
Vacancy rate 1.2%

Tugun (Coolangatta, QLD)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $1,185,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 151%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.62 years
Suburb inventory level 2.0 months
Vacancy rate 0.7%

Currumbin Waters (Coolangatta, QLD)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $1,200,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 151%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.62 years
Suburb inventory level 2.8 months
Vacancy rate 1.1%

Woongarrah (Wyong, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $900,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 135%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.69 years
Suburb inventory level 1.8 months
Vacancy rate 1.1%

Twin Waters (Maroochy, QLD)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $1,330,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 132%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.71 years
Suburb inventory level 1.4 months
Vacancy rate 0.9%

Horningsea Park (Bringelly – Green Valley, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $955,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 118%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.78 years
Suburb inventory level 1.4 months
Vacancy rate 0.7%

Bilambil Heights (Tweed Valley, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $930,550
Net price gain over past 10 years 118%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.78 years
Suburb inventory level 2.3 months
Vacancy rate 0.0%

Winmalee (Blue Mountains, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $900,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 117%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.79 years
Suburb inventory level 1.3 months
Vacancy rate 0.0%

Hobart (Hobart Inner, TAS)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $800,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 116%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.79 years
Suburb inventory level 1.9 months
Vacancy rate 1.4%

Albion Park (Kiama – Shellharbour, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $837,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 116%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.79 years
Suburb inventory level 1.2 months
Vacancy rate 0.5%

Ropes Crossing (Mount Druitt, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $841,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 116%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.80 years
Suburb inventory level 1.6 months
Vacancy rate 0.6%

Dee Why (Warringah, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $964,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 116%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.80 years
Suburb inventory level 1.4 months
Vacancy rate 1.2%

Marong (Heathcote – Castlemaine – Kyneton, Victoria)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $630,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 115%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.80 years
Suburb inventory level 3.8 months
Vacancy rate 0.0%

Cooranbong (Lake Macquarie – West, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $837,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 115%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.80 years
Suburb inventory level 1.4 months
Vacancy rate 0.5%

Prestons (Liverpool, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $986,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 114%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.81 years
Suburb inventory level 1.1 months
Vacancy rate 0.9%

Fern Bay (Newcastle, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $860,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 114%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.81 years
Suburb inventory level 1.3 months
Vacancy rate 0.0%

Hamilton North (Newcastle, NSW)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $885,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 114%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.81 years
Suburb inventory level 1.3 months
Vacancy rate 0.0%

Little Mountain (Caloundra, QLD)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $826,000
Net price gain over past 10 years 107%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.85 years
Suburb inventory level 1.5 months
Vacancy rate 0.8%

Meridan Plains (Caloundra, QLD)

Indicator Result
Median price – June 2022 $718,400
Net price gain over past 10 years 107%
Years of profit lost if vendor sells for 10% discount 0.85 years
Suburb inventory level 2.0 months
Vacancy rate 0.2%

~~

Disclaimer: This article contains general information and should at no time be considered advice to the reader. The reader should always verify their situation with the relevant certified professionals before taking any further steps. 




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