$500,000 can buy you a townhouse in Melbourne's outer east, south-east: HTW

The lazy half-a-million offers a range of property options in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, with a three-bedroom house in the outer east to four-bedroom houses on 500 sqm of land a little further on the south-eastern side. 

This is the inference from valuation firm Herron Todd White’s July 2016 residential market report, which discusses properties in the sub-$500,000 range.

Outer Eastern Suburbs 

Within the outer eastern suburbs, $500,000 can in general enable investors to purchase either a two- or three-bedroom house with a rental yield between 3.5% and 4%. In Bayswater for example, a two-bedroom house can be purchased for on average $456,000 (www.realestate.com.au) and achieve a weekly rental of $310 per week. Similarly, Boronia and Moorolbark still have two-bedroom houses with an average selling price of $482,500 and $462,500 respectively. In comparison, in the newly established Harcrest Estate, located in Wantirna South, sub-400 square metre lots are selling for just below the $500,000 mark or $1,300 per square metre. 

For investors looking to benefit from higher returns, Monbulk which has an average purchase price of $500,000 is perhaps one of the more profitable options, with average rental yield of 4% and demand for properties remaining high. The reason for this is the generally lower supply of properties available in the suburb as well as its reputation as a leafy family- friendly suburb, also popular with retirees. 

Units are perhaps another area to consider for investors wanting to strong arm their way into suburbs which have arguably a better location and are closer to amenities and access to public transport. For example, in Croydon, unit and townhouse prices are on average $465,500 and rents achieved approximately $350 per week, resulting in a gross yield of 3.9%. However, once service charges and other costs are taken into consideration, this figure is likely to be somewhat reduced. 

Units in Ringwood are also on average selling for $500,500 and rent for $343 per week. Given the extent of development that has taken place within the suburb in recent years, most notably the redevelopment of Eastland Shopping Centre and the train station, investors may regard this as a good investment for future capital growth, especially with annual growth for units for the period 2014-2015 being 10.6%. 

Property Observer found a three-bedroom house at 24 Broughton Avenue, Croydon, Vic 3136 which sold recently for $485,000.

If you are willing to sacrifice proximity to the city then head to the outer south east, where $500,000 will get you quite far. Suburbs such as Cranbourne, Officer, Pakenham, and Clyde North provide many options for buyers with a $500,000 budget. 

In these suburbs this budget will cover a newly built four-bedroom home on roughly 500 square metres of land in one of the newly released estates. 

“A new wave of double-story townhouses on smaller blocks in Cranbourne is just starting to hit the market. One of these will set you back around $350,000,” say HTW in the report.

“Original double-brick dwellings in Frankston North have seen growth over the past six months and $500,000 will buy you plenty of house on a decent sized block, with close proximity to the beach.”

Between Hampton Park and Langwarrin there are plenty of opportunities to purchase either a house, townhouse or parcel of land in this price bracket.

Property Observer found a three-bedroom townhouse on www.realestate.com.au at 75/1030 Cranbourne-Frankston Road, Cranbourne for $360,000.