WAVE OF GROWTH CONTINUES IN SCARBOROUGH

June 2006

Scarborough and Doubleview are offering homebuyers and investors long-term winners and a continued future of strong capital growth, according to Property Wizards buyer's agent Liz Sterzel.

Ms Sterzel said the suburbs had huge investment potential and, with knowledge and clever choices, investors could land an outstanding property.

"Major redevelopments over the past years have driven popularity and growth in the area and future changes in the pipeline promise to take this growth to new levels," she said.

"Over the past five years, recorded growth in Scarborough has been just over 21% a year for established houses and 13.5% in Doubleview; for units it has been around 21% in both suburbs."

Ms Sterzel said the positioning of the suburbs in relation to stunning beaches and the city made it a great place for investing, as well as surfing.

"We believe growth will keep on moving up as the scarcity and the attractions of the suburb drive superior growth," she said.

"The buzz a few years ago was to buy subdivisible land, so there are only a few golden opportunities left; but with knowledge and expertise they can still be found.

"The best strategy in Scarborough and Doubleview now is to buy an established house on a decent block and settle in for long term growth."

Ms Sterzel said while prices had risen, there was still a way to go.

"In general, an unusually large gap remains between these suburbs and the neighbouring suburbs of City Beach, Floreat and Trigg," she said.

"With Scarborough and Doubleview offering most of the same lifestyle benefits of their more expensive neighbours, we believe many properties in the area are still undervalued.

"Given that, and the fact that more council refurbishments are planned, it's likely the gap between them and their neighbours will continue to close in the years ahead."