Newcastle Property Market Update July 2019

Where in Newcastle can you buy a property for a lazy half million? Let’s first start off by saying really, half a million dollars is still a great amount of money to have available to spend on property. But can you buy a property in Newcastle area for less than $500,000?

Short answer – yes.

Longer answer – yes, but it also involves further questions of what type of property you’re after, the location of the property, and whether it’s for you to live in or as an investment. There are plenty of questions that only a buyer can answer as everyone has different tastes and budget requirements.

As we all know, the further from the city centre you go, the more affordable prices become. If the lazy half million is your budget, you can start your search by answering a few of the above questions to give yourself an idea of where best to begin.

North Lambton is showing more promise for those looking for more breathing room in the lazy half million budget. The suburb is still close to everything with a range of house and unit types and land sizes to match. The average median price in North Lambton is $540,000 (according to RP Data, 2019) but looking more closely in the suburb you can find some properties which can tick your boxes. A property in the area recently sold for $480,000. This two-bedroom, one-bathroom dwelling which may need a little TLC depending on owner requirements is situated on 556 square metres of land. It’s close to schools, John Hunter Hospital and also the Newcastle University Callaghan campus.

Looking at units now, there has been an increase in the number of townhouses and units in the area, with plenty of options to choose from. A recent sale in December 2018 was a three-bedroom, onebathroom townhouse with one-car garage space for $425,000. This unit is located close to the Newcastle University Callaghan Campus with an approximate weekly rental range of $430 to $450 per week.

Maryland, located west of Newcastle, is sometimes overlooked for the nearby suburb of Fletcher with its vacant land options and plenty of newly built houses, but Maryland has options for those wanting to keep below $500,000. You can find the more typical brick dwelling styles of the 1990s which can fit larger family sizes right down to unit dwellings for the professional investor. The median price for Maryland is $510,000. As we mentioned above in regard to North Lambton, this suburb has a range of prices which can flirt around the $500,000, but depending on your tastes you can definitely find something here to suit your needs.

A recent sale in Maryland was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom and two-car garage which went for $482,500 in April 2019.

In last year’s July Month in Review we looked at the same topic of where to buy for less than $500,000. We looked at Wallsend as a good option for those who didn’t mind not being close to the city centre. We still stand by this statement as Wallsend is a good option for that price range.

Another interesting note we mentioned back in 2018 is that, yes, bargains can be found with closer proximity to the city centre area but they are sometimes harder to find and need more TLC than others. The compromise is that you then need to spend some money on renovations which can lift the cost beyond your original $500,000 mark.

So in finale – yes, you can find properties for a lazy half million, but its location and features will be entirely dependent on the buyer’s requirements.

Speak with a Newcastle Mortgage Broker today.