For $500,000, you can still buy a one-bedroom unit in northern Sydney: HTW

What can you get for $500,000 in Sydney when the median dwelling price is at $782,000 (CoreLogic, May 2016) with a 13.1 percent positive increase in year on year values?

According to property valuation firm Herron Todd White’s residential market report for July, if you have an open mind and are willing to compromise on at least one of the factors of floor space, distance to CBD or age of improvements, there are options throughout the greater metropolitan area. 

North Sydney 

In the northern suburbs of Sydney, $500,000 doesn’t buy you much at all. With that threshold limit, compared with the CoreLogic unit median price of $662,000, you have the options of a semi-modern one-bedroom unit with one car space in Waitara, a 1970s one-bedroom unit with one car space in Lane Cove, or if there is some stretch available, a smaller semi modern studio in St Leonards without a car space. Further up towards the beaches you can still only just get a 1-bedroom unit but the closer you get to the city, the more likely you’ll have to contend with an older complex, dated inclusions, main road frontage and no car parking. 

This price bracket is generally made up of investors and first home buyers, both of which are sensitive to price and interest rate movements. The current cash rate as at June on hold at 1.75% may impact the market but we believe current regulations on investment loans will play a larger role in how this market performs overall.

As an illustration, Property Observer found a one-bedroom unit at 2402/32 Orara Street Waitara NSW 2077 that sold for $490,000.