Professionals Real Estate 
Suburbs with a median house price below $450,000 and that offer strong rental returns will be a magnet for property investors during the next financial year (2014/2015) according to Shane Kempton, CEO of Professionals Real Estate Group.
Mr Kempton said that Perth already had amongst the highest rental returns for properties in Australia as revealed by the latest RP Data figures for February 2014.
“The RP Data figures show, for example, the units in Perth are now delivering annual rental returns of 5.4% which is the second highest rate in Australia next to Darwin at 5.9%. While rental growth has moderated in Perth, so has house price growth unlike many other capital cities meaning that rental returns overall remain high in Perth. These high rental returns are proving attractive to investors who are achieving minimal returns on their banks savings.
“In addition, changes to the retirement age – which will be lifted to 70 – will also encourage more property to buy property to help fund their retirement. Many people who work in manual related jobs may find it hard to work until they are 70 and as a result will choose to invest in property as a wealth creation vehicle so they can retire much earlier.”
“Currently there are a wide range of suburbs in Perth where you can still buy homes with a large land content for under $450,000. With block sizes getting progressively smaller and the State Government encourage the long term sub division larger blocks, these older style homes in established areas represent an excellent long term investment for people seeking to fund their retirement. This trend will benefit near city suburbs such as Girrawheen and Balga which have homes on larger blocks at very affordable prices. In Girrawheen, for example, the median house prices is still under $400,000.”
“In particular, investors should target established areas which will have new infrastructure that will benefit the local area. A good example is Rockingham which will soon have a new $18 million road that will directly link its centre with the Perth Freeway. This new road will have a positive impact on Rockingham house prices as it will reduce the travelling time by car to the Perth CBD,” he said.
Top ten investment suburbs for 2014/2015
- Rockingham
- Safety Bay
- Armadale
- Kenwick
- Forrestfield
- Midland
- Cannington
- Girrawheen
- Balga
- Yanchep
