Over 10,000 cyclists commute into Melbourne’s inner city every morning. Many popular routes are located along residential streets. Secret Agent wanted to find out if the presence of a bicycle lane had any impact on house sale prices within a suburb.  Read the full post

Melbourne penthouse apartment, realestate.com.au

This week, Secret Agent takes a closer look at the price per square metre of Melbourne penthouse apartments.

Besides occupying the top floor of a medium to high rise building, for an apartment to be considered a penthouse, it also had to have a distinguished floor plan.

Out of 1,908 apartments sold around inner Melbourne since January 2016 to May 2017, there were only 21 penthouse apartments. All of these were new, post-90s builds except for 2 warehouse conversions. These penthouses were concentrated around the CBD, inner East and inner South suburbs.

Note that our results were skewed towards the sub-$3 million penthouse market, as information on apartments sold above this value is generally less accessible. Most of the apartments in our study are not whole-level penthouses.

* Based on less than 5 sales,  ** PPSM refers to price per internal square metre

Table 1   Average prices per square metre and median sizes in penthouses versus non-penthouses around inner Melbourne

Read the full post

We have just released our latest Secret Agent report!

This month, Secret Agent takes a look at the performance of inner Melbourne apartment rental yields from 2012 to 2017. Our report compares median apartment prices to median weekly rent to find out which suburbs returned the highest yields in the past year.

Unlike houses and townhouses, apartment prices have remained relatively stable in recent years. Over 1,500 apartments leased between February 2012 and May 2017 were included in the study sample. This includes 600 one bedroom, 840 two bedroom, 80 three bedroom and 4 four bedroom apartments.

Access the Apartments Rent report now!

Last spring, Secret Agent investigated the cost of rebuilding two period homes in inner Melbourne using current technology and materials. Our results below demonstrate that the prices paid for period property fairly represent the quality, history and scarcity of these types of homes in today’s market.

Using real examples of a Victorian terrace and an Edwardian house, we found that recreating these homes from scratch would cost at least $740,000 more than what you would pay for a genuine period home.

While it is possible to build a new home that imitates the defining features of Victorian and Edwardian houses, replacing period character to its full extent is almost impossible to get right. Note that the figures in the analysis of replacement values are conservative estimates only. Read the full post

Last week, Secret Agent released our report on the current state of rental yields for houses across inner Melbourne. Here is a summary of our findings:

• Over the last 5 years, yields have dropped by 0.42%, from 3.06% in 2012 to 2.64% in 2017.
• During this period, median house prices have increased by 38% (9% p.a.), compared to only an 11.8% increase in weekly rents (2.88% p.a.).
• On average, median weekly rents are between $500 and $700 for most suburbs. Sale prices tend to fluctuate significantly according to suburb.
• Suburbs with lower median prices tend to have higher yields, as weekly rent is mostly consistent across all regions.
• High and low yields are not concentrated in any particular region of inner Melbourne.
• Collingwood, Cremorne and West Melbourne had the highest median yields in 2016/17 at 3.69%, 3.32% and 3.26%, respectively.  Median prices were well below the $1million mark.
• Burnley, East Melbourne and Alphington had the lowest median yields at 1.35%, 2.07% and 2.31%, respectively. Median prices were all above $1.3million.
• Sale price is strongly, negatively correlated with yield (-47%). Yield is more dependent on purchase price rather than rental income.
• Yields are even lower for larger properties, as sale price increases faster than median rent.
• In 2017, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes can expect to yield 2.72%, 2.61% and 2.52%, respectively. All three types have had the lowest yields since 2012.
• Investors paying high prices for properties are even more reliant on capital growth to increase their returns.

WINNERS

First Home Buyers
First home buyers will be able to use voluntary contributions to their superannuation to save for a house deposit. Withdrawals will be taxed at a lower rate, but the amount you can contribute is capped at $15,000 a year and $30,000 all up. Both members of a couple can take advantage of the scheme.

In Victoria, the state government will abolish stamp duty for first time buyers of homes valued up to $600,000, make cuts to stamp duty on homes valued up to $750,000, and also double the First Home Owner Grant to $20,000 in regional Victoria.

With the first home super saver scheme, we may see increased demand for property below $600,000. This will push up the prices of houses and townhouses in outer suburbs such as Cranbourne. Inner city suburbs will be less affected, as average prices are typically above $600,000. Developers will also have to compete more agressively for development sites that allow sub-$600,000 townhouses to be built and sold in these outer suburbs.

Downsizers
A person aged 65 or over will be permitted to make a non-concessional contribution to superannuation of up to $300,000 from the proceeds of selling a principal residence owned for the past ten or more years from 1 July 2018.

This is good news for real estate agencies operating in areas popular among downsizers, such as the inner city, as there is more incentive for elderly property owners to sell their home. Developers can also benefit from creating stock in these areas. Read the full post

We have just released our latest Secret Agent report!

In recent years, we’ve seen house prices skyrocket while rents have risen less dramatically. 

This month, Secret Agent compares rent increases and house price growth in inner Melbourne to find out to what extent yields have decreased over the last 5 years.

Access the Rent report now!

While the cost of standalone and semi-attached houses in Melbourne continue to skyrocket, apartments have only had minor price changes over the past 12 months. Further, as houses continue to become a rarity, apartment supply is steadily increasing. Many people will have to start considering apartments if they wish to live in the inner city.

For people used to living with a backyard and having adequate distance from their neighbours, moving into a high-rise apartment building is out of the question. But there is another option: boutique apartments, usually between 8 and 40 apartments spread over no more than four levels, typically built in the 1960s to 1980s. They offer a middle ground between the freedom and privacy of standalone houses, and the affordable yet crowded environment of high rise towers. Read the full post

In February, we released Melbourne’s first price per square metre index for houses and townhouses based on internal floor area. We’ve summarised our key findings in an infographic for you to share and download easily.

Here’s what we found:

Terraces: $13,155/sqm of internal space

Most affordable suburb: Flemington $10,262/sqm
Most expensive suburb: Middle Park $17,357/sqm

Most affordable room: Living room $6,869/sqm
Most expensive room: Bedroom $14,717/sqm

Townhouses: $8,387/sqm of internal space

Most affordable suburb: West Melbourne $7,128/sqm
Most expensive suburb: South Yarra $12,008/sqm

Most affordable room: Kitchen $4,692/sqm
Most expensive room: Bathroom $19,424/sqm

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Click here to download the PDF version of this infographic.

Inner Melbourne average Q1 2017: $8,882/m2
Inner Melbourne average Q1 2016: $8,622/m2
Percent annual growth: 3.02%

On average, apartments increased in price by $260 per square metre, or 3% over the past year.

One bedroom apartments have remained about the same in nominal terms (which means they have fallen in value in real terms) and are now the cheapest apartments at $8,650 per square metre. All other apartments increased in price, with 4 bedroom apartments now averaging $11,450 per square metre. Not many of these properties get sold each quarter, so prices tend to fluctuate a bit. Similarly, three bedroom apartments increased in average price by about $1,000 to $9,400 per square metre in the first three months of 2017. Two bedroom apartments are also up slightly ($8,900/m2), while studios were more expensive than 1 and 2 bedroom apartments over the past three months ($9,200/m2). Read the full post