Month: January, 2009
Southbank: A haven for the young
Once a swampland occupied by the Aboriginal tribes, Melbourne’s inner city of Southbank is now a rejuvenated playground for the young. The area which used to be part of South Melbourne after the British settlement became industrial and was occupied by old factories, warehouses and wharves.
An initiative by the council in the early 1990s saw a big transformation and Southbank now boast some of the finest buildings in the Melbourne city, with the 91-storey Eureka Tower as one of the most prominent building in that area. With proximity to the CBD and St. Kilda road, the Southbank became a popular inner city suburb for working professionals seeking quality lifestyle and residential properties close to the CBD. Residential property developers jumped in on the bandwagon in the late 1990s and began massive construction, erecting buildings after buildings. There were also boutique luxury boutique apartments, notably the Melburnian apartments built in 2001 which was targeted at the owner occupiers market. A penthouse sold in that development was the most expensive ever sold in Melbourne at that time.
It was no surprise that Southbank soon went into an oversupply of apartments shortly after and that led to the market bottoming in 2004. It regained momentum though and property prices in Southbank recorded steady increases since.
Research has shown that majority of the units in Southbank are rented; 65 per cent of the suburb’s population being renters as compared to the Victorian average of 20 per cent.
With 92 per cent of the residents aged between 20 and 39, it was no surprise the area is heavily populated by singles, young working professionals who want to live close to city and lifestyle.
Louis Christopher of SQM research describes, “that is, it’s close to work – it only takes 10 minutes if you jump on the tram or 15 minutes if you want to walk into the CBD. It’s close to public transport, close to cafes, and entertainment facilities and close to universities.”
Figures have shown the median unit price in Southbank has increased at a rate of 5.9 per cent annually to reach $462,000. There hasn’t been much growth in the last 5 years; only about 1.5% annually, however the median unit prices recorded an improved rate of 12.7 per cent last year.
There is strong tenancy demand and vacancy rates have fallen to just 2.5 per cent.(3% is considered ‘balanced’ in the market)
Tips when acquiring an investment property in Southbank: Always get a unit with a car park. A car park is worth up to $50,000, however when included can save heaps of parking problems for potential tenants. In a tight area where off street parking is limited, tenants will almost certainly choose to rent a unit with a car park.
Australia to Focus on Attracting Medical, IT and Trades Professionals
Australia’s Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans said the country will need to speed up the visas of migrants especially those in the medical, Key IT, engineering and construction sectors. There was a sudden contraction in the number of skilled vacancies in Australia. The fall in the skilled vacancy index was supposedly the biggest since 1990.
There was already a prevalent shortage of trades people. That contributed to the lack of skilled people in the building and construction sector to meet the demand of the growing population. With strong labour laws and unions, Australia can never ‘import’ cheap labour like what we have done in Singapore.
