Real Estate
If the thought of owning a comfortable, modern three-bedroom family home a mere ten minutes drive from spectacular beaches, vibrant CBD nightlife and excellent restaurants and just around the corner from good schools but with a price tag in the low $400,000s you need look no further than Newcastle.
Or maybe a tree change – living in a beautiful country location on acreage with the bonus of being just 40 minutes drive away from a busy inner-city practice for around $300,000 – is more your style, then Maitland and its surrounds may well beckon. When compared with equivalent real estate in Sydney and other major Australian cities, to say property in Newcastle and the Hunter Region represents value for money is something of an understatement.
Recent figures from Australian Property Monitors and the Real Estate Institute of NSW (2010) show that while the median house price for a decent-sized family home in Sydney is fast approaching $600,000, Newcastle’s median house price is less than two thirds of that, at $355,000. It is possible in Newcastle to own a spacious family home close to the city’s best beaches and the inner city not be out of pocket for more than about $420,000.
A perfect example is provided by Adamstown, an inner ring suburb of Newcastle, a mere ten minute drive from Newcastle’s inner city, its beautiful beaches and about five minutes away from the local selective school, Merewether High. An equivalent for housing stock and location of a suburb like Randwick in Sydney’s east, Adamstown offers Federation-style family homes starting at the $420,000-$450,000 mark. Highfields, which is not much further away, is even more reasonably priced. It is still possible to buy renovated family homes and spacious modern apartments in prestigious beachside locations like Bar Beach and Merewether for as much as $300,000 under the million dollar mark, something that hasn’t been achievable in Sydney for a very long time.
Investing in property in the Newcastle and Hunter region also makes sound financial sense. 2009 data from property information service RP Data shows house prices in the Newcastle region have increased 128 per cent in the past 10 years. It is an old adage in the real estate industry that property prices should double every seven to ten years, so an increase of 128 per cent is noteworthy.
Also, 2010 data from Australian Property Monitors shows the median house price in Newcastle increased by 17 per cent, which compares well with major cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Rental vacancies compare favourably with Sydney at between 1.5 and 3.5 per cent and rents costs about half as much as Sydney and Melbourne, for similar standard accommodation.
Rental properties, particularly in more rural locations, cans still be found for under $150 per week. Long-time Newcastle real estate agent Sonia Walkom, of Walkom Real Estate said she believes Newcastle and the Hunter region offered a rare combination: a wonderful lifestyle combined with reasonably priced real estate. “It really is a lovely place to live and bring up a young family with a great lifestyle,” Mrs Walkom, who played a role in helping doctors relocate to Newcastle when the John Hunter Hospital was being established, said. “There is the the Bay, Lake Macquarie and of course the wineries. “It is a safe, friendly community and also a very academic community, with the university and excellent schools, so I am a firm believer in this place and what it has to offer.”
Or maybe a tree change – living in a beautiful country location on acreage with the bonus of being just 40 minutes drive away from a busy inner-city practice for around $300,000 – is more your style, then Maitland and its surrounds may well beckon. When compared with equivalent real estate in Sydney and other major Australian cities, to say property in Newcastle and the Hunter Region represents value for money is something of an understatement.
Recent figures from Australian Property Monitors and the Real Estate Institute of NSW (2010) show that while the median house price for a decent-sized family home in Sydney is fast approaching $600,000, Newcastle’s median house price is less than two thirds of that, at $355,000. It is possible in Newcastle to own a spacious family home close to the city’s best beaches and the inner city not be out of pocket for more than about $420,000.
A perfect example is provided by Adamstown, an inner ring suburb of Newcastle, a mere ten minute drive from Newcastle’s inner city, its beautiful beaches and about five minutes away from the local selective school, Merewether High. An equivalent for housing stock and location of a suburb like Randwick in Sydney’s east, Adamstown offers Federation-style family homes starting at the $420,000-$450,000 mark. Highfields, which is not much further away, is even more reasonably priced. It is still possible to buy renovated family homes and spacious modern apartments in prestigious beachside locations like Bar Beach and Merewether for as much as $300,000 under the million dollar mark, something that hasn’t been achievable in Sydney for a very long time.
Investing in property in the Newcastle and Hunter region also makes sound financial sense. 2009 data from property information service RP Data shows house prices in the Newcastle region have increased 128 per cent in the past 10 years. It is an old adage in the real estate industry that property prices should double every seven to ten years, so an increase of 128 per cent is noteworthy.
Also, 2010 data from Australian Property Monitors shows the median house price in Newcastle increased by 17 per cent, which compares well with major cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Rental vacancies compare favourably with Sydney at between 1.5 and 3.5 per cent and rents costs about half as much as Sydney and Melbourne, for similar standard accommodation.
Rental properties, particularly in more rural locations, cans still be found for under $150 per week. Long-time Newcastle real estate agent Sonia Walkom, of Walkom Real Estate said she believes Newcastle and the Hunter region offered a rare combination: a wonderful lifestyle combined with reasonably priced real estate. “It really is a lovely place to live and bring up a young family with a great lifestyle,” Mrs Walkom, who played a role in helping doctors relocate to Newcastle when the John Hunter Hospital was being established, said. “There is the the Bay, Lake Macquarie and of course the wineries. “It is a safe, friendly community and also a very academic community, with the university and excellent schools, so I am a firm believer in this place and what it has to offer.”
