Unfashionable Footscray and West Footscray among 2012 Melbourne hotspots
More famous for its cheap Asian eateries, strong immigrant population and high rates of crime, Footscray and neighbouring West Footscray to feature among six suburbs within 10 kilometres of the Melbourne CBD on the latest hot 100 list of investment locations compiled by Australian Property Investor.
The four other suburbs within 10 kilometres of the city included on the sixth edition of the annual list are Carlton North, Northcote, Thornbury and Ascot Vale.
Both Footscray suburbs have the most affordable median house prices ($520,000 for Footscray and $500,000 for West Footscray) and median unit prices ($318,000 and $290,000) out of the six inner ring suburbs
Melbourne hottest suburbs with 10 kilometres of CBD
| Dis-tance from | Median house price | Median unit price | Median house rent | Median unit rent | House yield | Unit yield |
3.8 kms | $830,000 | $460,000 | $520 | $395 | 3.3% | 4.5% | |
North-cote
| 5.5km | $800,000 | $445,000 | $495 | $335 | 3.2% | 3.9% |
Thorn-
| 7km | $658,000 | $375,000 | $440 | $290 | 3.5% | 4% |
Ascot Vale
| 6.6km | $707,000 | $468,000 | $450 | $340 | 3.3% | 3.8% |
Foots-
| 6.9km | $520,000 | $318,000 | $360 | $295 | 3.6% | 4.8% |
West Foots- | 9km | $500,000 | $290,000 | $360 | $240 | 3.7% | 4.3% |
Source: Australian Property Investor Magazine
Property consultant Peter Rogozik says the key drivers of the Footscray property market are affordability, the potential for further capital growth and continued gentrification
“Footscray is in close proximity to the expanding Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, in Melbourne’s north west, and next door to trendy Seddon Village in Seddon and Yarraville, which have both taken off over the past 20 to 30 years,” he says.
“The major attraction of Footscray is it’s the most affordable inner-city suburb where you can still find a freestanding Edwardian house on a good size block from $550,000 with an approximate 4.2% gross rental yield,” he says.
Rogozik says the suburb is shaking its unfair labelling as being “painted in crime” with a more professional demographic moving in.
Alexandra Churches from valuers WBP Property says West Footscray has a very good council that is “actively rejuvenating the Barkly Street village”.
Its other strengths are its connectedness to the Melbourne CBD, with Ballarat and Geelong roads both merging into one and heading into the Melbourne CBD.
“The Westgate Freeway also connects the suburb with the city,” says Church.
While West Footscray does not provide families with a great option of schools, Church says it has university campuses nearby, “a great multicultural food hub, major public and private hospitals, a train station upgrade and is close to a major shopping centre”.
The other Melbourne suburbs chosen because of their proximity to the CBD include Carlton North (“local facilities including parks, restaurants, bars and cafés, universities and more”); Northcote (“family-friendly suburb, where capital growth is generally strong”); Ascot Vale (“more affordable the other suburbs and well serviced by public transport”) and Thornbury (“good access to hospitals and schools and plenty of parkland”).
Looking beyond the 10-kilometre radius, there are seven Melbourne suburbs on the list, including some surprise locations such as Sunshine, Broadmeadows and the outlying suburbs of Frankston and Dandenong.
Outside of Melbourne the regional centres of Ballarat and Bendigo as well as the country towns of Werribee and Warrnambool are also included in the hot 100.
Melbourne suburb | Distance from CBD | Median house price | Median unit price | Median house rent | Median unit rent | House yield | Unit yield |
Box Hill
| 13 kms | $748,000 | $410,000 | $395 | $270 | 2.7% | 3.4% |
Broad-meadows
| 15km | $359,000 | $305,000 | $310 | $290 | 4.5% | 4.9% |
Dan-
| 28km | $375,000 | $269,000
| $310 | $270 | 4.3% | 5.2% |
Frankston
| 40 kms | $350,000 | $295,000 | $310 | $260 | 4.6% | 4.6% |
Ringwood
| 27 kms | $455,000 | $383,000
| $355 | $305 | 4% | 4.1% |
Sunshine
| 13.2kms | $430,000 | $265,000 | $300 | $250 | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| 20.3km | $584,000 | $396,000 | $450 | $295 | 4% | 3.9% |
Outside of Melbourne… | |||||||
Werribee
| 34.6km | $310,000 | $270,000 | $270 | $250 | 4.5% | 4.8% |
Ballarat
| 102km | $270,000 | $220,000 | $270 | $190 | 5.2% | 4.5% |
Bendigo
| 132km | $280,000 | n/a | $300 | n/a | 5.6% | n/a |
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Warr-nambool
| 226km | $315,000 | $241,000 | $320 | $230 | 5.3% | 5% |
Source: Australian Property Investor Magazine