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4. March 2016 07:14  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


Perth sales activity on the rise

NEW

 

Perth sales activity on the rise - reiwa.com

Sales activity in the Perth metro area increased significantly in February.

REIWA President Hayden Groves said the market had enjoyed a healthy rebound following the Christmas and New Year dip.

“reiwa.com data shows sales activity in Perth lifted 16 per cent over the month and five per cent when compared to November 2015.

“We’ve also seen that weekly sales over the last three weeks are higher than they were at the same time last year. While it’s too early to call this a trend it’s a good indicator that mobility in the market is beginning to improve,” Mr Groves said.

At a sub-regional level, the Central sub-region had the strongest increase in sales activity over the month lifting a healthy 37 per cent, followed by the North West sub-region with a 24 per cent lift.

“Baldivis in the South West sub-region and Canning Vale in the South East sub-region were the top selling suburbs in February, followed by Scarborough in the Central sub-region,” Mr Groves said.

Perth’s median house price etched back 1.1 per cent in the three months to February, coming in at $529,000.

Listings

Mr Groves said there had been a three per cent increase in listings stock in February which wasn’t surprising as vendors traditionally returned to the market at the start of the year.

“This is a marginal increase given the time of year, but it’s significant to note that listings are now eight per cent lower than they were in November which suggests this could be the early stages of a correction in a market of prolonged higher than average stock levels,” Mr Groves said.

Rental market

Perth’s overall median rent price held firm at $400 per week in the three months to February 2016.

In terms of houses and units, Mr Groves said the median price for both was unchanged over the month at $400 and $380 per week respectively, but each had dipped $10 per week when compared to November 2015.

“While tenants are still in a good position to secure a competitively priced lease in Perth, it’s encouraging for investors that rent prices are appearing to steady in 2016,” Mr Groves said.

Rental listings in the Perth metro area declined three per cent in February but remain above the long term average.

23. November 2015 11:00  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


The Men’s Shed are planning and exhibition of toys and other items made by members at The Shops on November 28th followed by an Open day on Thank a Volunteer day on December 5th, at 4 Transit Way Ellenbrook (near the Community Garden) at which products and tools will be offered for sale, tours of the workshops offered, and there will be a sausage sizzle on site.

This event will start at 10.00am and run until 3.00pm.

19. November 2015 13:37  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


Extracted from Ellenbrook Advocate 18 Nov 2015 The Advocate (Perth) Joel Kelly

ELLENBROOK is on track to have WA’s smallest green title lots at just 80sq m.

 

smallerblock

The WA Planning Commission has approved LWP Property Group’s amended development plan to create smaller lots near the Ellenbrook town centre.

This means a reduction of a third from the previous minimum green title lot size of 120sq m.

LWP has now applied to the City of Swan to progress the subdivision plan for the area and expects an approval next year.

At this point, LWP will be able to create the lots and construction of the two to three-storey homes will follow.

The final hurdle will be getting the development application for the buildings through the City of Swan.

When the council voted on the density increase in July, the proposal passed with eight out of 13 councillors voting in favour.

But some of those were eager to look over the final details when it returned to them at the development application stage.

Only eight lots will be 80sqm and two will be 89sqm out of the 290 dwellings planned in Ellenbrook’s Reveley precinct.

Project manager Megan Buckland said the proposed new homes were aimed at home buyers who wanted the convenience of town centre living without the cost of strata fees.

“The concept is to create an attractive two-bedroom home with the look and feel of a two-storey terrace inclusive of lock-up garages,” she said.

“The location of these lots is critical… LWP is only looking at sites in the Ellenbrook town centre.”

The lot and concept house designs were prepared after study tours of development projects in Queensland and South Australia, where small lot housing has already been built.

RobertsDay town planning director Tim Trefry said the tours were invaluable in determining the most appropriate lot dimensions and house layouts for Ellenbrook.

“The 80sqm lot is part of a range of urban lot and housing types that will be available in the Ellenbrook town centre,” he said.

“This product will cater for a range of demographics and assist in creating a vibrant and successful town centre.”

Swan Mayor Mick Wainwright said the council would determine how the small-lot trial would be assessed when it returned to planning officers.

“We’ll see what happens during that trial and see what the results are,” he said.

11. November 2015 14:19  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


 

There is always something on in Ellenbrook and surrounding areas and now that the weather has warmed up there is even more!

5. November 2015 11:07  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


hisTh

This looks like a great event for the whole family.

13. October 2015 12:38  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


Extracted from Ellenbrook Advocate Wednesday October 7, 2015. By Joel Kelly.

DEBATE OVER BEST WAY TO EASE CONGESTION

PLANS to upgrade and extend Henley Brook Avenue to Reid Highway are well advanced and construction is expected to start within two years.

trafic jam

A map of the proposed Henley Brook Avenue extension.

The project aims to relieve congestion issues on West Swan Road, where traffic jams regularly extend several kilometres from the Reid Highway intersection during peak hour.

Once the four-lane Henley Brook Avenue extension is complete, West Swan Road will become a dedicated tourist and local traffic route.

The City of Swan also proposes West Swan Road be closed north of Gnangara Road. This is set to be complemented by the Perth-Darwin Highway, which is planned to divert heavy traffic away from Great Northern Highway – the Swan Valley’s other major tourism route.

A preliminary cost estimate based on the concept design is $36 million, split between developer contributions and City funding.

The plan has created divisions between candidates in the City of Swan’s Swan Valley/Gidgegannup ward election over the approach to reducing traffic.

Mayor Charlie Zannino is pushing for the four-lane upgrade of Henley Brook Avenue, while candidate Rod Henderson believes Lord Street should be upgraded to four lanes first, followed by a different method of extending Henley Brook Avenue.

Mr Henderson said he supported the eventual extension of Henley Brook Avenue to Youle-Dean Road so it could connect to Lord Street.

“There’s definitely a need to get traffic off West Swan Road and currently Lord Street is where most of the traffic goes, so it makes sense to upgrade that first,” he said. Mr Henderson claimed developers in the area would only fund a two-lane extension, meaning City of Swan would be out of pocket.

But Cr Zannino said the relevant approvals had been finalised and anticipated construction would start in 12-24 months.

“Both Henley Brook Avenue and Lord Street will carry the same amount of traffic in the future due to the amount of development flagged in the area,” he said.

Land acquisition will be required to complete the Henley Brook Avenue project, many of the properties are already owned by the City or the State Government.

Swan chief executive Mike Foley said the City was preparing detailed plans and would speak to affected landowners “in due course”.

Mr Foley said no decision had been made on where the project will start first.

“There are a number of factors to be taken into account such as the availability of funding, service locations, and land acquisition before the City can determine which section will be constructed first,” he said.

 trafficjam-1traffic jam2

The Advocate contacted Swan Valley/Gidgegannup ward candidate Andrew Kiely but he did not respond before deadline.

30. September 2015 14:35  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


  •  

    ANOTHER Marvelous Marvel Movie – indoor theatre with outdoor and indoor pre-show entertainment. 

    Snacks, popcorn, and drinks available – movie ticket gets you a free kids pizza at CRUST GOURMET.

    4:30 pm – entertainment starts
    5:30 pm – movie starts

     
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30. September 2015 14:27  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (9)


LWP Property Group were out at Annie’s Landing, Ellenbrook this week and have posted these photos on their Facebook page stating that “the new primary school is really starting to take shape, which is super exciting to see. It is due to be opened in time for Term 1 next year”

17. September 2015 11:21  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


  • Article from Ellenbrook Advocate, 16 Sep 2015

 

SALES

In the four weeks to September 7 local property sales are at 106 across land, units and houses. This represents a lift of 3 per cent over this period. Compared to the same time last year, sales have increased by 26 per cent. In the overall market sales are up 8 per cent for the four week period. Ellenbrook tops the list for the highest number of sales at 36. Properties available for sale have increased by 18 per cent over the last four weeks and are 49 per cent higher than the same time last year. Total listings in the Perth Metro Region are up 3 per cent in the four weeks but remain 36 per cent above the same time last year. The average time to sell in the local area has increased for the 3 months to August 2015 by 20 days to 84 days from 64 days at the same time last year.

7. September 2015 11:42  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


The Ellenbrook Community Library is hosting a session to help people identify mental heath issues in youth and provide information on how to help and where to seek help.

26. August 2015 14:30  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (1)


  • Following article has been taken from:
  • 19 Aug 2015
  • The Advocate (Perth)
  • Joel Kelly

PLAN FOR FREIGHT TERMINAL

LAND north of Ellenbrook has been flagged for a freight terminal linking the State’s north-west with Perth’s north metropolitan area.

The WA Planning Commission last month assumed control over the land, which is between the future Perth-Darwin Highway, Perth to Geraldton railway line and Great Northern Highway.

Eventually the land will become the South Bullsbrook Intermodal Terminal and WAPC control ensures it will be reserved for this purpose.

About six private properties will be directly affected by the rezoning.

The proposed terminal is surrounded by about 2500 hectares of land proposed to be zoned as industrial in the Metropolitan Region Scheme.

It is also next to RAAF Base Pearce which, among other locations, has been floated as a potential site in the State Government’s search for a second commercial airport in Perth.

City of Swan chief executive Mike Foley said an airport would be convenient for residents in Swan’s northern and eastern suburbs.

“The most important consideration would be the impact on the RAAF Base Pearce airspace,” he said.

“One of the reasons why Perth Airport flight paths are restricted was because of the Jandakot and Pearce airspace.

“The purpose of the Planning Control Area means that all planning decisions on the subject land will be determined by the WAPC. This is to ensure that future development of the subject sites will not prejudice the planning for the future intermodal (terminal) in Bullsbrook.”

Swan Hills MLA Frank Alban met senior government officials recently to lobby for a third interchange off the Perth-Darwin Highway near Maralla Road or Warbrook Road to lead in to the future industrial site.

He said another interchange would benefit residents by removing the temptation for local commercial traffic to join Northlink WA at Ellenbrook, rather than an interchange leading to the industrial area.

Planning Minister John Day said the potential for an intermodal (road-rail) freight terminal at Bullsbrook had been identified in the draft framework.

“Such a terminal would boost employment opportunities in the area and make the most of existing and proposed transport infrastructure in the North-East sub-region,” he said.

The City of Swan also has its eyes on the area as its primary employment centre, the Malaga industrial area, reaches capacity.

Mr Foley said the proximity to Ellenbrook and Midland’s growing skilled workforce was a positive sign.

“(Opening) this region will certainly stimulate positive economic growth through investment attraction, job creation and create further opportunities for tourism,” he said.

“Improving the transport efficiencies for businesses, employees, tourists and the community will stimulate positive economic growth.”

21. August 2015 11:46  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (6)


The following article appeared in the Ellenbrook Advocate on Wed 19th August 2015;

Three years ago, a group of Aveley boys had a vision to establish a skate park in Aveley. One petition later, their skate park dream has become reality. BOREDOM is what originally inspired four young Aveley boys to walk the neighbourhood and petition for a local skate park.

boyskate1Picture: David Baylis
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Jaxon Reynolds, Tyson Byrne-King, Dakota Cheung and Connor McEwen at the new skate park.

Three years on from the conception of their idea to fight boredom, the Aveley skate park has become a reality and an instant hit.

The boys identified the need for the park on a hot summer day and walked the neighbourhood to get support for it.

City of Swan councillor Natasha Cheung facilitated getting their idea and petition to council.

BoySkate2

From there, the City got the ball rolling and the boys were called back to help with the design of the skate park, which is also frequently used by scooters. The skate park opened three weeks ago and is already so popular there are jokes about starting another petition to extend it.

3. August 2015 14:55  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


The following article is from The Real Estate Conversation July 30th 2015

Presentation is paramount

The big questions we get asked as agents are: How much should I spend on preparation? Where should I start? How much money do I need to spend to maximise the return?

In today’s real estate market it’s clear how important property presentation and styling has become and how much this can impact a sale.

Sellers across Australia are seeing an increase in returns on their investment in this area. However, you only need to look closer to home and visit open inspections on the weekend to see the significant impact this trend is having in our Adelaide market. Approximately 75% of residential properties for sale now incorporate some form of professional styling.

There is no denying that home styling adds to the bottom line of the sale price and there are many case studies of fantastic outcomes for properties. These case studies are well above what the clients expect… I was one of them last year when I sold my property in Parkside. The styling and presentation of my property, I believe, had a very significant impact, and I worked out that this would have added 10% to the property sale price!

So, with presentation and styling increasingly adding to a property’s return, why do we hear stories of some sellers spending $15,000 and receiving little to no return, while others can spend $8,000 and more than triple their return?

There is a science to this… and, as real estate agents it’s where we can step in to help you! Return on investment (ROI) for presentation isn’t just luck. Employing an agent with experience and market knowledge can really add valuable Intel in this area to help you maximise your sale price!

Many agents and sellers understand the concept of home presentation – making sure a property appeals to the maximum number of buyers, giving a maximum chance of competition and a maximum chance of achieving a premium result. There are also many articles written about this area, discussing strategies such as removing family photographs, personal items, de-cluttering, hiring furniture and giving the property a fresh paint etc. It all adds to broadening your property’s appeal. We believe there is more science to this to give you the best chance of a high ROI.

The big questions we get asked as agents are: How much should I spend on preparation? Where should I start? How much money do I need to spend to maximise the return?

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. There will be different answers to these questions for every property, however, they will all start with the same approach. This is ‘starting with the end in mind.’

The science to working out how much you should spend and what preparation you should do, starts by working together with your agent and talking through who you believe will be the most likely buyer of the home.

What does this person look like? What is their lifestyle like? What do they do in their spare time? What do they want from their new home? A big clue, and an exercise we go through with our sellers is looking back to when they bought the property and remembering what attracted them to the home. Often the buyer profile will be very similar.

Once we get a clear picture of who the buyer is, the presentation plan of how much to spend and what to concentrate on to maximise returns becomes much clearer.

For example, if we were selling a modern townhouse in Norwood, we would look to attract young professional couples as we are finding they are looking in this area at the moment for this type of property. If the property had an old run down boundary fence it could significantly impact its attraction of this type of buyer to the property. Whereas, if you had a character ‘renovators delight’ property in the same area, with the same condition fence, the buyer profile is very different. This is a property that is extremely attractive to developers or renovators so fixing the fence before sale would be a waste of money.

While this is a relatively simple example, it can get very strategic and working through this process with experienced agents to highlight who the buyer will be and what they are likely to value provides huge insights and clues for vendors on how to optimise their returns, which is key to achieving great results!

Presentation1

Genevieve is Head of Sales & Marketing at Toop&Toop, the Adelaide firm started by her parents Anthony and Sylvia in 1985. After attending Geelong Grammar in Victoria, Genevieve went on to attain a Bachelor of Business (specialising in Marketing) at Monash University. Graduating in 2007, Genevieve came back to Adelaide…

 

31. July 2015 11:59  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


 


Quarterly data suggests favourable outlook for interest rates  - reiwa.comAccording to the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), the 2015 June quarter Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures support the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) July assessment that inflationary pressures are well contained and likely to remain this way. 

REIA President Neville Sanders said this was good news for home owners and should translate into a sustained period of low interest rates. 

“In the June quarter, the CPI rose by 0.7 per cent and an annual rate of 1.5 per cent. These figures are below the RBA’s target zone of two to three per cent and should not put pressure on the interest rate outlook. 

“The annual changes for the analytical series of trimmed mean and for the weighted median were 2.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively, and compare to the changes for the 12 months to the March quarter 2015 of 2.3 per cent for the trimmed mean and 2.5 per cent for the weighted median,” Mr Sanders said. 

The housing group increased by 0.7 per cent for the June quarter and an annual rate of increase of 2.5 per cent. 

The main increases in the June quarter for the housing group was for new dwelling purchases, which increased by 4.8 per cent, while rents increased by 0.4 per cent for the quarter and 1.9 per cent for the year. 

“With inflation under control, combined with a slowdown in housing finance, it’s reasonable to expect that the RBA will not be increasing interest rates in the medium term, providing a stable outlook for home buyers,” Mr Sanders said. 


28. July 2015 15:34  /  swanvalleyrealtyblog Comments (0)


From LWP Ellenbrook Facebook page:

 

FREE Beginners Art Classes

Roy Davies is a brilliant facilitator and his beginners group (funded by ECAG and ACAG) is going from strength to strength and he has a wait list!!

The classes are also an opportunity to meet likeminded people and make new friends!