Will “walkable” suburbs outperform in the future?

You often hear location is paramount when choosing a great investment property. 

But what makes a good location? 

While a lot of factors come into play, easy access to facilities must be near the top of the list.

Walking distance to transport, shops and the café lifestyle is one the strongest trends attracting buyers and tenants.

This particularly so among the growing demographic living in apartments in our inner suburbs.

Australian Cities have been ranked by WalkScore

Well…now you can find out how “walkable” your suburb is.  

Walkscore.com, which measures the number of typical consumer destinations within walking distance of a dwelling, with scores ranging from 0 (car dependant) to 100 (most walkable) has recently ranked more than 100 Australian cities and 3,000 suburbs.

With a Walk Score of 63, Sydney comes out on top in the ranking of The Most Walkable Australian Cities and Suburbs.

But of course, you’re not really interested in the WalkScore of a particular city – especially in a city the size of Sydney or Melbourne.

What you are really interested in is the walk ability of a specific property in a particular location in one of our cities.

While a number of real estate websites have incorporated WalkScore and more are likely to follow, of course the walkability index has a number of shortcomings.

Consider the low-scoring regional dweller who enjoys walking their dog on a rural path.

Not to mention that what one person considers a “walkable” trip may seem an epic hike to another.

Walk Score’s ranking of the top 10 largest Australian cities:

Here is how our cities ranked:

1. Sydney (Walk Score: 63)                                                       
2. Melbourne (Walk Score: 57)
3. Adelaide (Walk Score: 54)
4. Brisbane (Walk Score: 51)
5. Perth (Walk Score: 50)
6. Newcastle (Walk Score: 49)
7. Wollongong (Walk Score: 48)
8. Gold Coast (Walk Score: 48)
9. Central Coast (Walk Score: 41)
10. Canberra (Walk Score: 40)

While this is interesting, as I said what is more important is that in every city some suburbs are more walkable than others.

You can check out the complete list of ranked cities and suburb here: http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/australia.

Walk scores are also turning up in a number of property portals and agents websites and you can expect to see more in the future.

What does all this mean?

Over the past decade, home values in Sydney’s walkable neighbourhoods have outperformed the rest of the city and can attract a 20% premium.

It was much the same overseas where studies indicate that properties with above-average levels of walkability command a premium over homes with average levels of walkability.

It gets even better…

Walkable neighbourhoods offer a number of health and economic benefits.

For example, a 10-year long study of Australians by the University of Melbourne found that walkable neighbourhoods with proximity to shops, parks and public transit improve people’s health and wellbeing.  

And as our population grows, and our cities become more dense, I see the importance of easy access to amenities and walkability becoming more important.

With more of us trading backyards for balconies and living in apartments, we’re spending more time in cafés and restaurants rather than entertaining at home

Add to this the fact that 22% of our population are living alone, then the opportunity to stroll up the road to visit their favourite café for a coffee or a meal is particularly important to them.”

So when you’re looking at buying your next home or investment property consider its proximity to amenities.

The ability to work, live and play all within 20 minutes’ reach is the new gold standard of desirable lifestyle post Covid19.

Imagine being able to carry out your daily activities within a 20-minute walk from home.

All the things you need in a day would be just a short walk away.

In urban planning circles, it’s a concept known as the 20-minute neighbourhood, and it could be on the cards for your area sooner than you think.

It seems that in our new “Covid Normal” world, people love the thought that most of the things needed for a good life are within a 20-minute public transport trip, bike ride or walk from home.

Things such as shopping, business services, education, community facilities, recreational and sporting resources, and some jobs.

Now is the time to take action and set yourself for the opportunities that will present themselves as the market moves on

If you’re wondering what’s ahead for property you are not alone.

You can trust the team at Metropole to provide you with direction, guidance, and results.

In “interesting” times like we are currently experiencing you need an advisor who takes a holistic approach to your wealth creation and that’s what you exactly what you get from the multi award winning team at Metropole.

If you’re looking at buying your next home or investment property here’s 4 ways we can help you:

1. Strategic property advice. – Allow us to build a Strategic Property Plan for you and your family.  Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now!  This will give you direction, results and more certainty. Click here to learn more
2. Buyer’s agency – As Australia’s most trusted buyers’ agents we’ve been involved in over $3.5 Billion worth of transactions creating wealth for our clients and we can do the same for you. Our on the ground teams in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane bring you years of experience and perspective – that’s something money just can’t buy. We’ll help you find your next home or an investment grade property.  Click here to learn how we can help you.
3. Wealth Advisory – We can provide you with strategic tailored financial planning and wealth advice. Click here to learn more about we can help you.
4. Property Management – Our stress free property management services help you maximise your property returns. Click here to find out why our clients enjoy a vacancy rate considerably below the market average, our tenants stay an average of 3 years and our properties lease 10 days faster than the market average.

from Property UpdateProperty Update https://propertyupdate.com.au/will-walkable-suburbs-outperform-in-the-future/