Originally posted in The West Australian.
Western Australia continues to be the most coveted State for real estate as an east coast property expert identifies the 10 top suburbs for investors to buy in — nine of which are in Perth.
In a list of the top 10 suburbs for median house growth between November 2022 to November 2023, Armadale and Brookdale, in Perth’s southeast, were tied for first place, with each recording a 34 per cent rise.
Other suburbs in Perth to make the top 10 included Camillo, Hilbert, Gosnells, Haynes and Champion Lakes with the Kwinana suburbs of Orelia and Parmelia and the outer Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth North rounding out the list.
Armadale’s rapid price rise comes as the region seeks to shake its long-held reputation for being unsafe. In 2021, Armadale was voted the State’s worst suburb by the satirical S..t Towns of Australia site.
Director of Melbourne-based investment firm OpenCorp, Michael Beresford, said while an area’s appeal towards renters was part of the “due diligence” investors undertook, reputations could shift over time.
Western Australia continues to be the most coveted State for real estate as an east coast property expert identifies the 10 top suburbs for investors to buy in — nine of which are in Perth.
“Areas grow and cities develop. Port Melbourne had that (sort of reputation) not that long ago. And the median house price is now close to $2 million,” he said.
“My frequent advice to investors is ‘don’t buy with your heart’, emotion has no place in investment.
“It’s not about whether you love the property or whether you can see yourself living in that area or not. It’s about where you’re going to get the best financial return.”
The population of the City of Armadale is expected to grow from 91,000 to 141,00 by 2036 – a 3.6 per cent growth rate that is more than three times the State average and more than twice the national average.
“When you have that much extra demand for housing and you have areas that are constrained in terms of supply, you see significant uplift very quickly,” Mr Beresford said.
The property investor said the area’s “strong infrastructure pipeline”, including the under-construction Armadale rail line, was also increasing prices.
Mr Beresford said while the “window has closed” for buyers to get a quick return on investment in parts of Perth’s south east, other suburbs in the area still had strong opportunities and the affordability of houses in WA meant the Perth market had room to grow.
“Investors can get a quality property in WA for around $550,000. If you compare that to Melbourne, it’s more like $650,000 to $700,000,” he said.
“House prices in Perth are about half of what they are in Sydney, yet the wages are comparable.”
Matthew and Christie Bull purchased two properties in Perth last year, including a house and land package in the Armadale suburb of Hilbert for $500,000.
Mr Bull, a podiatrist, said they had looked at the prices in each capital city around Australia and invested as soon as they were able to make mortgage repayments and “purchased as much as we could at the time”.
“We understood the demographics of Armadale, however, we could also see the appeal of surrounding suburbs,” he said.
“When combined with significant Government spending on local infrastructure, the availability and creation of jobs and extremely low rental vacancies, we believed these suburbs had excellent investment potential.”
