Once location, location, location now lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle, there has been a shift in the drivers at the forefront of purchasing decisions for homeowners.
The lockdown hiatus and huge pricing wars over the past two years pushed a lot of buyers outside of the city and towards communities that promised a desirable lifestyle.
Property commentator, valuer and Principal of Suburbanite, Anna Porter, explores the winner’s and loser’s for finding lifestyle on the East Coast of Australia.
According to Porter, one of the biggest losers has been Austral, in Sydney’s South West.
“We’ve seen Austral completely transform over the past decade but the planning is so poor that it is nothing more than an oversupplied house and land estate,” she says.
“There has been little to no land reserved for hospitals, schools or other associated infrastructure let alone upgrades to the roads or access points,”
“For the young families pushed out west for housing, this has not created a liveable or desirable location for the long term.”
Porter compares this to the Moreton Bay Region in Brisbane which she deems as a winner.
“The Redcliffe Peninsula, previously known to locals as ‘deadcliffe’ has witnessed huge transformations in recent years on a community level,” she says.
“The planning was right from the start but now the whole foreshore has been activated by the introduction of weekly street markets which turned the once non desirable location into a very family friendly hub,”
“Planning has been a winner in Brisbane also with the Queens Wharf Project earmarked to follow in the footsteps of Sydney’s Barangaroo, and become a real entertainment powerhouse for visitors and locals.”
Porter also notes Hamilton, Queensland, where the old industrial precinct has been transformed into a buzzing night market with entertainment every Friday, Saturday and Sunday by the name of Eat Street Northshore.
“When buyers look for a place to call home they often do go and try a couple of local restaurants, get a feel for the vibe on the weekend, check the traffic, commutability and really dive deep into the important draw cards,” shares Porter.
“Activating neighbourhoods with lifestyle amenities is more important than ever,”
“If we look at the heavily criticised Lord Mayor Clover Moore shut down of George St for the pedestrian hub, we can clearly see the success as there has been a total revitalisation of the Sydney CBD.”
Porter points out that the George St hub has had a very different impact to that of Sydney Olympic Park.
“Sydney Olympic Park was successful for serving The Olympics, without a doubt, especially compared to its predecessors for having a life after the Olympics,” shares Porter.
“But, they really missed the mark on the lifestyle aspect – in reality, its a dead hub unless there’s a concert on,”
“Unfortunately, as a liveable, connected, engaging, active community in Sydney, it’s a complete fail for life after the Olympics.”
According to Porter, connectability is extremely important for those having to move to the suburbs.
“Melbourne’s Western Suburbs are much like Olympic Park in the sense they are also oversupplied, with houses as opposed to units, but the lack of infrastructure means they aren’t very well connected to transport corridors making it a failure in my opinion,” she claims.
“The real winner in Victoria is Southbank in Melbourne’s city,”
“This once undervalued pocket of real estate now has an active night life and thriving entertainment quarter on the rivers edge, perfect for bringing lifestyle to the area.”