Canberra Real Estate

[Julie-Ann]

Does anyone know much about the Canberra real estate market? From my very basic research so far it seems that 2 bedroom apartments are very reasonable and rental prices in the short term market seem very good. My question is - what kind of growth do 2 bedroom apartments close to the Civic or Kingston area get? I assume this varies over time like the Perth market with booms and downturns. But some markets you get great rental returns but not much growth and vice versa. Add in the $1000's we would save in accommodation costs going to visit Mr18 and it becomes an interesting idea. What do you think?

[Di]

I can't comment on capital growth, etc, but from the point of view that rent is (generally) wasted money, even if you bought and sold again in 4 years and broke even with purchasing costs/expenses, you're still ahead.

The 2nd bedroom quite possibly could be rented out to cover the costs of utilities and food.

[Julie-Ann]

That was my thoughts too Di. We would only use the apartment for a 4 weeks+ a year. The rest of the time we could register it with an agency that rents out serviced apartments. That way we can organise to have no one in it the weeks we want to be there.

[Di]

Ooooooooooh, I thought you were thinking of buying something for your son to live in.

Still a great idea if it can generate income, too.

[Julie-Ann]

No he will live in a residential college on campus. We think this will be easier for him as it is fully catered and there are lots of activities he can join in and they have older students and deans he can go to for advice. But when we go to see him for 2 weeks at Easter it will cost $3000+ just for accommodation.

[clp]

If its financially viable for you its a great idea - rental returns are very high in Canberra because so many people have their rent covered for them as they are here for work. In fact when the new grads flood the market at the beginning of the year its impossible to find a rental property - there is a real housing shortage over here.
Its a crazy market a bit like Darwin (which is very weird).
Serviced apartments would be hideously priced I imagine as they are full of people on transfers and diplomats before they get their housing sorted rather than being used for people on holiday etc.

[clp]

Kingston is about to get a whole lot of new apartments and you have to be a bit wary about buying in areas such as these as you are really looking at the quality of the build - they haven't developed around the lake yet and people are expecting it to rise significantly but it might be a bit touch and go for a short while. I would try going to a decent quality older style unit in a smaller complex as a general rule.

[Julie-Ann]

Originally Posted by clp

they haven't developed around the lake yet and people are expecting it to rise significantly but it might be a bit touch and go for a short while.

Clp do you mean around the lake in the Kingston area?
I have gathered that there is a housing shortage. It could be an interesting investment. We realised the 2nd semester Study Break overlaps with Floriade. Trying to find accommodation for September is already proving difficult.

[clp]

I think it can be hard to find accommodation when parliament is sitting as well - you should try coming early Jan - super quiet - there are restaurants which close down in January!
Kingston has a lot of development already - but the foreshore stuff is only in very early stages - there would be plenty of stuff off the plan to consider.
If you look at Allhomes.com.au any area in the Inner South is a boom area to buy in - Narrabundah is the cheapest suburb in that area but the lower part of it is less desirable - the bits closer to Red Hill and Griffith where we live are much better areas. All of the rest of the Inner South is probably the priciest area of Canberra.
A unit in the Inner North would also be a good investment.