MAYLANDS PACKS PLENTY OF INVESTOR POTENTIAL

August 21, 2005

With the potential to become as sought-after as the Sydney suburb of Balmain or Melbourne's Collingwood and Fitzroy, investors searching for promising and affordable inner city buys in Perth would be wise to look to Maylands.

Perth buyer's agent and Managing Director of Property Wizards, Liz Sterzel, says Maylands is packed with potential.

"Maylands offers a fantastically affordable way to enter the inner city market in Perth," she says.

"Parts of the suburb are undervalued, so there are definite opportunities to pick up a fabulous investment and with ongoing upgrades in the area, prices are only expected to keep moving up."

The median price of established houses sold in Maylands in the year to 30 June 2005 was $364,000 - up 26.0% over the previous 12 months.

The median price had risen an average 14.7% a year in the past 5 years.

Ms Sterzel predicts that over time, Maylands could become another of Perth's up-market suburbs.

"Maylands is nice and close to the café strip of prestigious Mt Lawley, offering lifestyle attractions similar to Subiaco and Leederville, without such a big financial outlay," she says.

"As well, it's nestled close to the river, is just six kilometres from the city and runs along the railway line, giving good access to the CBD and coast."

Ms Sterzel says a slight stigma still remains in Maylands, which has undergone significant upgrades in recent years.

"While there may be some small amounts of stigma still attached to the area, it should disappear due to the likelihood of superior capital growth in the future, the increasing popularity of the suburb with younger professionals, and newer developments that are giving the suburb a facelift," she says.

"The major development along the Maylands peninsula has seen many larger and more modern new homes popping up along the riverside.

"Many of the homeowners have great city and river views. Parts of the suburb have really been transformed and are now very pretty, with beautiful streetscapes.

"As well, many older apartment blocks are undergoing full refurbishments which are continuing to boost prices and attracting burgeoning numbers of buyers with more disposable income.

"Many people are also snapping up reasonably priced lovely character homes and cottages on the western side of the train line and at the meeting point with Inglewood and Mt Lawley."

INVESTMENT POTENTIAL

Ms Sterzel says investors should be scouting Maylands for sites with development potential.

"There's a lot of interest in older homes on good sized blocks in the better areas within the suburb, but they are hard to come by, so investors will have to look carefully to find these opportunities," she says.

In 2004, 81% of the total properties sold in Maylands were strata properties

More than half had two bedrooms and 60% of them were built before 1980. "There has also been a rush to buy ready-to-renovate older-style apartments in Maylands," Ms Sterzel explains.

"Some with river or city views can even be snapped up for under $300,000 if investors have their fingers on the pulse or have an expert looking out for them."

THE MARKET

As at August 22, there were 78 properties for sale in Maylands.

Prices start at $100, 000 for a 1-bed unit near the train line, shops and cafes.

The cheapest vacant lot was $155K. The lowest priced house is a 3 bedroom character home on a small lot on Railway Parade - selling in the low $300K's.

"There is certainly property to suit every budget in Maylands," says Ms Sterzel.

"Asking prices go all the way up to $1.2 million for a high quality four-bedroom home on a large lot and $1.7 million for a six unit development site."

RENTAL RETURNS

Ms Sterzel says a one-bedroom unit in Maylands worth around $120,000 can fetch rent of around $120 a week, giving a high rental yield of about 5%.

"Larger units and the older houses are likely to return a slightly lower yield of between 3% to 4%," she says.

"But it may be worth opting for a lower rental return in exchange for the better capital growth rates which superior properties in this sector are likely to deliver."

Newer homes in the recent developments in Maylands will rent for upwards of $350 a week, but are likely to experience lower capital growth.

MAYLANDS: FAST FACTS

Maylands is approximately 6 km²
12 parks cover nearly 18% of the total area
There are 3 schools and 2 childcare centres located in Maylands
In 1996, the population of Maylands was 9,064 people - by 2001, it had grown to 18,475 showing a population growth of 104% during that time The predominant age group of Maylands residents is 20 - 29 years Households in Maylands are primarily lone occupant and are likely to be repaying between $600.00 - $800.00 a month on mortgage repayments. In general, people in Maylands work in a professional occupation.
In 1996, 34% of the homes in Maylands were owner-occupied compared with 42% in 2001

For more information, please contact
Mr Trevor Dunkley
Director
Property Wizards
trevor@propertywizards.com.au
Tel: (08) 9381 7450