Point Cook a magnet for first home buyers
Point Cook continues to be a magnet for first home buyers with house prices recording an increase of just 39.5% over the past 10 years, new data reveals.
The latest PRDNationwide figures show that the median price for a house in the popular western suburb of Melbourne rose from $336,750 in 2004 to $470,000 last year.
However, unit prices dipped from $310,000 to $298,000 in the same period.
PRD Nationwide research analyst Harrison Hall said Point Cook remained one of the most affordable suburbs in Melbourne.
“The Point Cook market has been growing steadily at an average of 4% per annum for the past 10 years,” Hall said.
“This means owners are getting good returns but it has still maintained its affordability for people looking to enter the local market.
“Whereas the Greater Melbourne market has become more unaffordable with median prices rising 7.3%, which means it’s becoming harder for people to buy in.”
However, he said buyers needed to be wary of the constant new supply in the area, forcing vendors to sell their older properties below the cost of new ones.
“Sellers would have a very hard time selling their property for more than a comparable new property,” Hall said.
“There will be consistent development for years to come which means this will always be an issue.”
Point Cook had over $460 million worth of new projects to be completed in 2015, including more than 360 new dwellings and large-scale subdivisions.
He said the suburb was also slated for infrastructure and commercial projects including a $48 million extension to the Point Cook Town Centre with a major super market, 14 speciality shops, car parks and commercial facilities to be completed by 2016.
CoreLogic RP Data spokesperson Robert Larocca said Point Cook remained sought after being just 21km from the Melbourne CBD.
“It has proved popular, because for the same price you have got to live 30km or 40km away from the CBD in the east,” Larocca said.
He said the suburb’s performance varied depending upon the location.
“There are some very exclusive parts of Point Cook and there are much more affordable properties,” he said.
“For instance, it is a suburb where (last year) you saw 155 homes sold under $400,000 and 14 sold for over $1 million in the same period.
But he said most of the properties sold from $400,000 to $600,000.
Hockingstuart Real Estate Altona sales executive Tony Anile said Point Cook’s affordability made it strong property market.
“There is a lot of new homes being built, a lot of vacant land being developed,” Anile said.
“There are a lot of young families moving into the area.
“It is a place where you can get into for a good family-sized home.”
Oliver Hume Real Estate project manager Nick Lacarruba said demand for land and housing packages had picked up again after a slump in 2011.
“Consumer confidence is back and there are a number of different projects that are coming to the market,” Lacarruba said.
“The size of the market has increased.”
Lacarruba said land sizes generally varied from 300 square metres to 600 square metres on average. He said there was a prevalence of double-story homes ranging from 20 square metres to 50 square metres.
Photo of Point Cook courtesy of Lorraine Phelan/flickr.
