The ‘Top 5 Cheapies with Prospects’ list, prepared by real estate guru Terry Ryder, dubbed these five areas as smart places to invest in property, largely due to affordability, job opportunities, and infrastructure spending.
Though these areas were once seen as industrial suburbs, they have now transformed into thriving residential locations with steady price growth.
“(These) are places considered unattractive by those looking through uneducated eyes—but they have the potential to transform into real estate swans,” said the report. “Not all of the cheaper areas have this potential.”
The Epping precinct – consisting of suburbs Epping, Doreen, Lalor, South Morang, and Thomastown – owes its steady growth to the M80 Ring Road upgrade and the expansion of various train services. It also has its fair share of job generators, such as the $1.2 billion business park at Mickleham and the relocation of several facilities into the area. Epping also has a booming population that is expected to grow from 18,900 in 2015 to about 24,000 by 2036.
Epping, Lalor, Mill Park, and South Morang all registered a double-digit median price growth in 2015. The region is considered to be ‘mortgage belt territory,’ as 45% of its households belong to people paying mortgages. This is well above Melbourne’s average of 27%.
Epping has also been named as one of Australia’s Top 10 Best Buys and Melbourne’s Hotspots for 2016.
