McMansions are on their way out – at least in Melbourne and Canberra.
That’s the verdict from property expert, Stuart Benson from Domain.com.au.
“Buyers of residential property in both of these cities are more and more looking for smaller properties,” he says.
In Melbourne, buyers are searching for smaller brick homes and terraces, while in Canberra they’re looking for 3-bedroom homes more than any other property type. In the unit sector, proeprty hunters prefer 2-bedroom units with the second preference being a 3-bedroom unit in Canberra and 1-bedroom in Melbourne.
“This trend reflects cost of living issues as larger homes cost more to maintain,” says Mr Benson. “There’s also a general trend to live closer to the city where there tends to be smaller properties.”
Australian Property Investor recently nominated the inner-city areas of Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North as amongst the hot property spots in Melbourne. Other suburbs close to the city that are perennial favourites are South Melbourne (where The Block’s 5 storey five apartment building is soon to be auctioned), Prahran and Albert Park.
In Canberra, real estate experts suggest the best long term residential buys are in Barton, Forrest, Kingston as well as some of the suburbs across Lake Burley Griffin such as Turner, Ainslie, Campbell and Hackett.
A Canberra property owner, who doesn’t work in the industry, and who lives in a prestigious Barton and has 10 other investment properties, says that Canberra residential prices are always static in an election year.
“I have no idea why it’s the case, but house prices in Canberra tend to go up when there’s a Labor Government and down when there’s a Coalition Government. So if you believe the polls, it might be best to wait till after the middle of September!”
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