<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s best buy locations are looking less blue chip and more blue collar, according to a new report.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s housing market collapse is leaving blue-collar areas once looked down on by \u201creal estate snobs\u201d set to outperform the blue-ribbon addresses.<\/p>\n
As soaring interest rates make affordability king, Tasmania\u2019s Glenorchy region as well as pockets in the southern parts of Queensland\u2019s Logan municipality have been named as among the best buying opportunities in the country by influential property pundits Hotspotting. <\/p>\n
They\u2019re also doubling down on earlier predictions that units could be in for their best run since the 1970s, partly as homebuyers respond to a greater focus on safety.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Australian house values fall in 82 per cent of suburbs as downturn spreads<\/a><\/p>\n Where government is looking to reopen door to foreign investors<\/a><\/p>\n Australia mortgage stress surges to 450,000 households as default risks hit tipping point<\/a><\/p>\n The firm also name the once-working class Canterbury-Bankstown segment of NSW, and the Darebin area of Victoria, in their top five areas offering the best value for money and the best prospect for the best growth in the next seven to 15 years. <\/p>\n While the group saw little value in South Australia after years of surging home values, they named three of the nations\u2019 10 best regions as being in Victoria, including Wodonga and Warrnambool. <\/p>\n The Hunter Valley in NSW, Burnie in Tasmania and Toowoomba in Queensland also made the list. <\/p>\n This two-bedroom unit in Chigwell, in the Glenorchy region of Tasmania, sold for $440,000 earlier this month.<\/p>\n Bankstown in NSW was ranked second on the list. A two-bedroom unit like this in the suburb recently cost $635,000.<\/p>\n Hotspotting founder Terry Ryder said it had become clear over the years that \u201ca stigma for being down market or lower socio-economic doesn\u2019t stop areas from delivering strong capital growth\u201d. <\/p>\n Mr Ryder said six-figure surges for a two-bedroom unit in the Logan area in recent years had already proven the point, but that as interest rates rose and borrowing capacity fell, \u201caffordability rules\u201d and areas with cheaper home prices as well as a pipeline of infrastructure, particularly healthcare, would be positioned well. <\/p>\n \u201cPrices aren\u2019t falling everywhere, it\u2019s the top end having the biggest decline in values, and many of the first-home buyer areas are holding up very well,\u201d Mr Ryder said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd, when it comes to where people are choosing to buy, they don\u2019t care if the real estate snobs look down on them. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd that doesn\u2019t stop those areas from showing good growth, so people need to keep that in mind. Don\u2019t let a bad reputation stop you from looking at what\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Best Buy Regions<\/p>\n Glenorchy, Tasmania<\/p>\n Canterbury-Bankstown, NSW<\/p>\n Southern Logan, Queensland<\/p>\n Darebin, Victoria<\/p>\n Wodonga, Victoria<\/p>\n Hunter Valley, NSW<\/p>\n Burnie, Tasmania<\/p>\n Rockingham, Western Australia<\/p>\n Toowoomba, Queensland<\/p>\n Warrnambool, Victoria <\/p>\n Areas are assessed based on future growth driving infrastructure projects, affordability today, and are being assessed over the next five to 10 years. In many of the areas, units will be the main beneficiaries of workers needed for major projects as well as core employment hubs around education and healthcare.<\/p>\n Source: Hotspotting Best Buys Report<\/p>\n Units are back on the radar in a way that hasn\u2019t happened since the 1970s, according to Hotspotting\u2019s Tim Graham. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are living differently and looking to lock up and leave,\u201d Mr Graham said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd they are safer. There\u2019s more eyes and if you scream, somebody hears you and there\u2019s more people in the complex who might be able to lend a hand.\u201d<\/p>\n While affordability compared to houses in the same areas was giving units an edge they were still advising against mega apartment buildings with the cheapest homes. <\/p>\n Instead, they\u2019re expecting units in smaller complexes of six or eight that were built solid and date back to about the 1950s or 1960s to do quite well in the coming seven to 15 years.<\/p>\n Real Estate Institute of Australia president Jacob Caine said with affordability becoming increasingly challenging, many homebuyers would be looking in areas that had previously not been first or even second on their list. <\/p>\n The suburb of Yarrabilba in the Logan South part of Queensland between Brisbane and the Gold Coast has homes like this four-bedroom offering that sold for $730,500 this month.<\/p>\n Victoria dominated the list, and homes like this two-bedroom unit in Reservoir, part of the Darebin municipality, recently sold for $635,000.<\/p>\n Mr Caine added that the locations highlighted by the Hotspotting report were not what had been historically considered blue chip \u2014 but as new families and generations moved in, homes would be upgraded and the suburbs would gentrify. <\/p>\n He agreed that a rise in demand for units could be driven by more than just affordability. <\/p>\n \u201cIn some areas of Australia crime has become a more significant focus and as a result people are gravitating towards homes offering additional security with that thought in mind,\u201d Mr Caine said. <\/p>\n \u201cApartment buildings, by virtue of being multi-dwelling home sites, offer additional organic security as there are more people around to dissuade criminals from casing out a joint or committing crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here <\/a>to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n MORE: Japanese investors surge into Australian property as Chinese sell<\/a><\/p>\n Block star\u2019s tears over tradie\u2019s dodgy $20k act<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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