Choosing Property Investment Locations

Choosing the right Location for your property investment...

Where to Look

The number of property renters in Australia is rising, which is good news if you are interested in buying investment property. It’s crucial to the success of your investment that your property return a steady income. But where do you begin to look among the thousands of investment location opportunities available? Do your research.

Be Well Informed

You need to have up-to-date information on current pricing levels, transport accessibility, amenities and services, employment nodes, proximity to major amenities and lifestyle factors, as well as any major infrastructure changes. It is important to know which state, city or neighbourhood is currently experiencing the best housing growth and/or the lowest rental vacancies.

Location & Price

Price is a very important when it comes to choosing your investment, property, but it must be also balanced against location. A successful property investment produces good rental yields and solid capital growth. A property in a country town might sound more attractive because, because it yields a higher rental for less money than an equivalent property in an established inner city suburb or a booming regional centre. The catch is that capital growth is likely to be considerably slower in a rural area.

The more attractive the location the more successful the investment. Affordable and sought after suburbs within 2 to 10 km's of a city centre usually achieve good capital growth over the long-term. Major improvements to amenities and infrastructure can significantly increase the demand for rental property.

The Right Place in the Right Street

Having selected a suburb according to your criteria and research, you now have to choose a specific location. Some areas or streets will have more appeal to renters than others e.g. easy access to rail and bus routes is always important to students and working commuters.

Close proximity to schools, Tafe colleges and university are popular with families and students. Positioning within easy reach of shopping centres, and sporting and recreation facilities, such as parks and swimming pools increases a properties rental and capital growth potential.

Making the Right Decision

Location has a significant effect on a property’s long term capital growth. The effort you put in to gathering your information will give you confidence it comes to making your final property purchase decision.