On the Fringe
While reading the Herron Todd White Month in Review report on the housing market, there was a particular piece on ‘Fringe Suburbs’ that struck our fancy. The report states “fringe suburbs offer the average punter a chance to grab a little piece of Australia at a fraction of the cost compared to inner city, ‘ooh la la’ locales.”
The Perth Metropolitan Area is a sprawling area; stretching from Wanneroo in the North, to Mundaring in the East, and Rockingham in the South. On the boundaries lie the fringe suburbs, which in the past have been beloved by investors and first home buyers. Some of us here at Select live close to or in those fringe suburbs, characterised by intruding residential development, new industrial sites and other developing urban uses.
The Perth Metropolitan Area provided by WA Government
Fringe suburbs, like Baldivis in Perth’s South, have become their own epicentre of town life. As mega-suburbs, many have developed to the point of self-sustenance where their inhabitants do not have to venture out of the area to find schools, regional shopping centres, major community spaces, hospitals, and universities.
Areas such as these offer great opportunity for first home buyers to settle, or investors to pick up property for prices that are far cheaper than those in the inner city suburbs. How you can follow and identify new hotspot areas to buy into is by researching successful development companies and knowing where they are planning to invest next. These kinds of companies have both the resources and funds to research into where areas of housing demand will spring up in the future. Once you know the interest in a certain area, it is worthwhile to look into purchasing older property that has a potential for price growth once new developments are completed.
Terry Ryder, director and founder of hotspotting.com.au, suggests that in the South of Perth, suburbs such as Rockingham, Cooloongup, Baldivis, and Secret Harbour have “got high levels of affordability, jobs and population growth.” He also suggests that the Eastern suburb of Forrestfield is a high interest area due to the construction of a 2-billion-dollar rail line to be completed by 2020. The train line will connect Forrestfield and Bayswater to Perth’s metropolitan train network from the airport, which Ryder says is a huge area of employment precincts. Within the developmental hotspot around the airport, it is expected for high-density residential and commercial projects to commence, along with the construction of a new shopping centre.
There is also interest shown towards the central-Midland area due to the announcement of funding for a new Medical School for Curtin University doctoral students and in the business area surrounding the Clarkson train station, currently targeted by apartment developers.
Overall, “the further you get away from the CBD… the more affordable the suburbs going to be,” says Tim Lawless, director of property research, RP Data. But when planning to purchase property in a fringe suburb, you must be aware of the infrastructure that connects it to outer areas. “Strong arterial road access, public transport and amenity” are incredibly important, Lawless stresses.
While we are situated in South Lakes, South of Perth city, we cater to all areas in the South West. If you are interested in living on the fringe, we can give you the sound financial advice needed when purchasing any type of property.
If you have any queries or would just simply like to tell us about your own experience of purchasing a property in Perth’s fringe suburbs, leave a comment below or message us on our Facebook page.