Canny Sydney investors have the Melton property market in their crosshairs.
As one of Melbourne’s last affordable property frontiers, Melton is attracting growing interest from interstate buyers.
Local agents have confirmed a spike in Sydneysiders looking for value, but property experts are divided about the area.
Sydney buyers’ agent Victor Kumar, director of Right Property Group, saw Melton as Sydney’s Mount Druitt.
Mr Kumar had been hunting established properties close to Melton’s CBD for two-and-a-half years, but last week he said he would not have bought here five years ago.
There was a strong demographic shift happening that most people were not noticing, he said.
People sitting on $500,000-plus rundown fibro homes in Sunshine were selling up and moving to house and land packages in and around Melton.
“They’re getting a brand new house on decent-sized land – perhaps not as big as their land in Sunshine – and they’ve still got change left over,” he said.
“In the past two years, there’s been a juice bar spring up; there’s a couple of better cafes so slowly the lifestyle culture is changing.”
Strata manager-turned-property-investment-adviser Luke Moroney added an original three-bedroom Melton South house to his investment portfolio last May for $190,000.
After a renovation, he’s now receiving $270 a week in rent – which means it’s slightly positively geared.
Mr Moroney said there was potential, because of its affordability, for Melton to become a western hub for Melbourne.
Joe Mavrikos, of Hocking Stuart Melton, said the market was flooded with interstate buyers … and some were even buying sites unseen.
“The value is crazy … I don’t think it’s going to last that long if everyone catches on,” he said.
Barry Plant Melton agent Ned Nikolic said the number of Sydney investors hunting in the Melton area had doubled over the past six months.
Established houses near the train station and shopping centre had better capital growth potential than newer ones further out.
But Melbourne buyers’ agent Cate Bakos said she would strongly advise investors to reconsider if they wanted to buy in Melton.
She understood why Melton would seem exciting on paper for those unfamiliar with Melbourne.
“My biggest issue with Melton is that it’s a long way away and surrounded by areas that are still offering house and land packages,” Ms Bakos said.
Melton’s median house price grew just 0.1 per cent to $265,250 over the year to March 31, Domain Group data shows.
Besides Melton and Melton South, investors are also buying in nearby Kurunjang and Brookfield.
