<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a> offers plenty of reasons to live vertically, but moving from a substantial family home into an apartment can expose the compromises of high-density living. Privacy, room for guests and usable living space tend to matter more when an apartment is intended as a permanent home rather than an occasional coastal base.

A typical residential floor at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-eveleigh-broadbeach-7-9-surf-parade-broadbeach-qld-4218">The Eveleigh</a>, on Surf Parade,&nbsp;contains just four apartments. The 94-residence development by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/hirsch-faigen">Hirsch &amp; Faigen</a> is predominantly made up of expansive three-bedroom homes, with a limited collection of half-floor penthouses above.

Across the apartment floors, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has used the relatively limited number of residences to give each home greater access to natural light and outlook. Living spaces extend towards full-height glazing, while a series of bay windows frame selected views across the Pacific Ocean, city and hinterland rather than treating the building edge as a continuous wall of glass.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360965]

“The apartment floors deliver a collection of homes that embrace controlled outlook via a series of bay windows deliberately framing moments of view,” Rothelowman Director Kim Lowman said.

From outside, those projecting forms contribute to the tower’s faceted profile. Strong horizontal and vertical elements establish its proportions, while the changing position of the sun alters the light, shadow and reflection across the façade throughout the day.

The same attention moves inside the apartments, where the material palette combines warm timber, natural stone, metallic detailing and softer curved forms. Kitchens sit within the main living zone, with stone island benches, integrated joinery and European appliances, before the living areas extend towards the glazing and the outlook.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360981]

Three genuine bedrooms provide room to accommodate family and guests, while two secure car spaces and storage address some of the practical considerations that can become more noticeable when moving from a larger home. Feedback from the display suite has centred on the warmth and restraint of the interiors, with buyers commenting that the residences feel like homes rather than conventional coastal apartments.

A limited collection of half-floor penthouses occupies the upper levels, increasing the scale of the living spaces and adding private balconies and elevated finishes. From this position, the outlook extends between the ocean and hinterland.

Outside the private residences, The Eveleigh separates its shared spaces between the podium and rooftop. The podium is centred on wellness, with subtropical landscaping surrounding a swimming pool and pool terrace, yoga garden, private gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge facilities. Landscaped retreats and pavilions provide additional places to sit away from the main recreation areas.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360966]

Higher in the building, a rooftop pavilion and private dining suite sit alongside resident lounge, barbecue and outdoor dining areas, opening towards panoramic views across the ocean, city and hinterland.

“Buyers are no longer just looking for an apartment, but a lifestyle where they can relax, reset, and enjoy a balanced way of living,” Hirsch &amp; Faigen Director of Sales Matt George said.

Interest to date has come from established owner-occupiers and interstate lifestyle purchasers, including buyers planning a future move to the Gold Coast. Many are coming from larger homes and want to reduce ongoing maintenance without giving up space for family and guests, privacy, two car spaces or the ability to entertain at home.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360969]

Much of that daily life can also take place beyond the building without requiring a drive. Kurrawa Beach and Pratten Park are an easy walk from Surf Parade, while Pacific Fair, Oracle Boulevard, The Oasis, restaurants, cafés, entertainment and public transport are also within walking distance.

The Eveleigh is Hirsch &amp; Faigen's fourth Gold Coast development since entering the market in 2021, following The Hemingway at Palm Beach, The Emerson at Kirra and Yves at Mermaid Beach. Each of the preceding projects sold out before completion.

“Broadbeach had been on our radar throughout our time operating on the Gold Coast,” the developer said. “Following our projects in Palm Beach, Kirra and Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach represented the natural next step for the business.”

The Surf Parade site brought together proximity to the beach, protected coastal outlooks and walkability to dining, shopping and recreation. Hirsch &amp; Faigen also identified the street as an emerging premium residential address, with enough separation from Broadbeach's busier destinations to retain a quieter environment at home.

The Eveleigh is now under construction by Maxcon, with completion forecast for mid-2028. Three-bedroom residences are currently available from $2.87 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=149670]

Joel Robinson

The Eveleigh brings house-like apartments to Broadbeach

A long-stalled Campbelltown development site is back in play, with new plans for 139 apartments set to supersede a mixed-use scheme approved almost a decade ago but never built.

The new proposal for 28 Cordeaux Street would deliver 116 market and 23 affordable apartments in a part 14-storey building, bringing a substantial new project into a Campbelltown market where new apartment supply remains limited.

Plans have been filed over the 3,092 sqm corner site at Moore-Oxley Street, around 600 metres from Campbelltown Railway Station and the city-centre retail core.

The site already carries a mixed-use residential approval dating to 2016. Doroch Architects has now been engaged on a larger replacement scheme, which is progressing as a State Significant Development Application following a Housing Delivery Authority determination in August 2025.

The apartment mix comprises 39 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom residences. Two-bedroom apartments make up just over half of the project, while three-bedroom homes account for 20 per cent.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="136dd5b9-3791-4da6-9e31-76f533f5b4de" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da2.png?VersionId=LgOSy9nwf5u.MGswBBwaGGxuX8QpHSl_" />

Of the 139 apartments, 23 will be delivered as affordable housing under the in-fill affordable housing provisions of the Housing SEPP. The affordable component represents 15 per cent of the residential gross floor area and will be managed by a registered Community Housing Provider.

Doroch has sought to break the scale of the building into two distinct elements, with a masonry podium of around four storeys establishing the street edge before the residential tower steps back above.

The corner position has shaped that approach. Cordeaux Street faces toward the commercial and civic centre, while Moore-Oxley Street leads into the lower-scale residential neighbourhood to the south, and the design verification report describes the site as "bridging the commercial core to the north and established residential areas to the south."

The podium will be expressed predominantly in face brick, while the upper levels shift to brushed and grooved concrete cladding with darker metal detailing. Recessed sections, deep balcony edges and landscaping break down the upper form, with an approximately 11.8-metre setback to the northern boundary addressing the adjoining St Peters Anglican School.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c8b3d2d3-c561-4bfc-a5d9-a68c0c10dac1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da1.png?VersionId=AeAEyJU02Gk2k5noUj2StziCvdQ7fW4B" />

Campbelltown has been starved of new residential developments in the last decade.

The only other notable development set to come to market this year is ALAND's Queen Square, a mixed-use precinct on over two hectares that will comprise apartments above a vibrant ground-level retail and hospitality dining precinct.

First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site

First Look: Sherlock Construction pitches apartments for low-rise Deception Bay

Queensland builder-developer MAYD has revealed the first look at its major North Kirra beachfront development, lodging amended plans that reduce the number of apartments and increase the proportion of larger residences.

The project is planned across a substantial 4,742 sqm amalgamated site spanning seven lots at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/2-6-pacific-parade-bilinga-qld-4225">2-6 Pacific Parade</a> and 27-33 Golden Four Drive in Bilin​ga, directly opposite Nor​th Kirra Beach.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/mayd-group">MAYD</a> secured the site for $32.5 million in 2025, in what was one of the Gold Coast's largest property transactions of the year.

The development will be delivered across two stages, with the first stage carrying an estimated gross realisation value of around $360 million.

The latest amendments seek to reduce the overall apartment count and shift the project further toward the owner-occupier market, with larger residences designed for buyers wanting considerably more space than traditionally offered in a beachfront apartment.

The residential mix will include townhomes, oversized two-bedroom apartments, substantial three-bedroom residences and four-bedroom homes.

MAYD has appointed Cera Stribley to lead the architecture and interiors, with the Melbourne-based design practice drawing on the beachfront setting through a series of ocean-facing terraces and heavily landscaped balconies.

Strong horizontal forms and curved balconies will define the exterior, with subtropical landscaping integrated throughout the building to soften the built form and increase the connection between the residences and the beachfront.

The project will also include an extensive collection of resident wellness and lifestyle facilities, continuing the broader shift across the Gold Coast's luxury apartment market toward larger homes supported by resort-style amenity.

<img alt="MAYD" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d1bcbb05-e659-4b47-8bd4-1e595315e2ad" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-08-27%20at%202.05.03%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=jj0XEud1X1DuLt7_KyElhjMdZGOXmLHP" />

MAYD Founder Todd Mould said North Kirra was increasingly appealing to buyers attracted to the more established, lower-density character of the southern Gold Coast.

"North Kirra presents one of the most compelling luxury residential opportunities currently emerging in Australia, combining absolute beachfront with the character and authenticity that buyers are increasingly seeking, and the same sense of tight-knit community that defined Burleigh and Currumbin perhaps 10 or 15 years ago," Mould said.

"With Gold Coast Airport on its doorstep, it also offers a level of accessibility that broadens its appeal across almost every market demographic."

The project comes as the southern Gold Coast continues to attract an increasing share of high-end apartment development and buyer activity.

Kirra in particular has emerged as one of the region's more tightly held beachfront markets, with its relatively low-density character, established surf and hospitality scene and proximity to Gold Coast Airport differentiating it from the higher-density markets further north.

Mould said those characteristics had informed the approach MAYD and Cera Stribley had taken to the project.

"We've worked closely with Cera Stribley to create a vision that is deeply connected to its surroundings," he said.

"Inspired by the coastline itself, the architecture has been shaped around space, privacy and resort-style living, creating a collection of homes that reflects the next generation of luxury on the southern Gold Coast."

MOTIV Managing Director Carly Cottam, who has been appointed to market the project, said buyer attention had continued to move south along the Gold Coast.

"Purchasers who may once have defaulted to Broadbeach, Main Beach or Surfers Paradise are increasingly recognising the value of a genuine beachfront location that offers lower density, strong amenity and a more established sense of community," Cottam said.

"Kirra has a powerful combination of growing demand and genuine scarcity. Beachfront supply is inherently constrained, the area remains relatively low density, and buyers are increasingly placing a premium on locations that feel established, uncrowded and authentic rather than heavily developed."

Cottam said the proximity to Gold Coast Airport was also proving increasingly important for interstate and second-home buyers.

"Being minutes from Gold Coast Airport makes it particularly compelling for interstate buyers, frequent travellers and second-home purchasers who can access an authentic coastal lifestyle almost immediately after stepping off a flight."

The acquisition takes MAYD's active development portfolio to more than $500 million, with the North Kirra project representing one of its largest undertakings to date.

MAYD is targeting an early 2027 launch.

First look at MAYD's North Kirra mixed-use precinct

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Castle Hill, the longtime hub of the Hills District, has been one of the major beneficiaries of Sydney's Metro expansion, with improved connectivity helping drive continued population growth, development and buyer demand across the Hills District.

But despite that growth, the suburb has seen relatively few major new apartment projects brought to market over the past 18 months.

Hills District developer Reve Group is looking to fill that gap with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/nova-r-ve-castle-hill-2-garthowen-crescent-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Nova Rêve</a>, a major new mixed-use precinct on the corner of Garthowen Crescent and Old Castle Hill Road, a short walk from Castle Hill Metro Station and Castle Towers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377679]

The project will comprise three residential towers alongside a hotel, restaurants, cafes and a skybar, more than 1,600 sqm of ground-floor retail and almost an acre of landscaped gardens.

It represents the largest project undertaken by Reve Group, the development arm of the Kassis family, which has been building across the Hills District for more than 30 years through Kassis Homes.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377675]

Nova Rêve also represents a significant step up from the family's first apartment development, Grand Rêve, which was delivered nearby on Garthowen Crescent.

Grand Rêve introduced larger, house-like apartment layouts and premium inclusions including Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances to the Castle Hill market.

Nova Rêve takes that approach to a precinct scale, combining the residential component with hospitality, retail and substantial public and resident landscaping.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377685]

Reve Group Managing Director Sam Kassis said the project reflected the family's three decades of building in the Hills, which has evolved from trophy homes on quarter-acre blocks to larger-scale apartment development.

"Grand Rêve was our first apartment project here and it showed us what this pocket of Castle Hill could be. Nova Rêve is the refinement of that idea: not just apartments, but a place the whole suburb can use," Kassis said.

A key part of that approach is the hotel, which has been designed to operate as an amenity for the wider Castle Hill community rather than solely hotel guests.

It will include restaurants, cafes, skybars and all-day dining, alongside conference and event facilities catering to business functions, community groups and private events.

At ground level, more than 1,600 sqm of shops and cafes will open onto the surrounding streets and landscaped areas.

Almost an acre of gardens designed by Land and Form Studios will run through the precinct, incorporating pathways, seating, barbecue areas and children's play spaces.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377680]

Reve Group's Romio Georges said creating an active ground plane had been central to the planning of Nova Rêve.

"There are gardens with pathways, barbecues, seating and play areas, shops and cafes opening onto the street, and a hotel with restaurants and a skybar that anyone in Castle Hill can walk into," Georges said.

The project's elevated position on one of Sydney's highest ridgelines will also provide apartments with outlooks toward the Sydney skyline, surrounding parkland and the Blue Mountains.

More than 80 per cent of the apartments will occupy corner positions, with Turner responsible for both the architecture and interiors.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=152737]

<h3 data-end="3697" data-section-id="q3n5ak" data-start="3672">&nbsp;</h3>
</main>

Nova Rêve arrives as Reve Group bets on Castle Hill's next growth phase

Sydney’s property market is known for high prices, competitive bidding, and mounting pressure on first home buyers. But change is on the horizon.

From late 2025, eligible first home buyers in New South Wales will have access to a new federal government initiative aimed at addressing affordability: the Help to Buy Scheme.&nbsp;

<h2>What is the Help to Buy Scheme?</h2>

The program introduces a shared equity model intended to reduce the upfront cost of entering the property market, particularly in high-demand urban areas such as Sydney.

The scheme operates under a shared ownership structure in which the federal government takes an equity stake of up to 40 per cent for new homes, or 30 per cent for existing dwellings. This arrangement allows eligible buyers to significantly reduce their loan size and avoid the added cost of Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).

Under this model, purchasers can enter the property market with as little as a two per cent deposit, well below the traditional 10 to 20 per cent usually required. The government’s contribution is not a loan but a co-ownership stake in the property. As such, there is no interest or rent charged on its portion.

Because the government’s equity combined with the buyer’s deposit typically meets or exceeds the 20 per cent threshold, LMI does not apply. The remaining balance, generally between 60 and 70 per cent of the property’s value, is financed through a standard home loan with a participating lender.

The government's equity in the property remains in place until the buyer chooses to repay it voluntarily or until the property is sold. Buyers can buy back the government’s share over time, in increments of at least five per cent, depending on their financial situation.

There is no fixed repayment timeline, but the amount to be repaid will be based on the property's market value at the time of repayment, not the original purchase price.

<h2>How do you qualify for the&nbsp;Help to Buy Scheme?</h2>

To qualify for the Help to Buy Scheme, applicants must meet the following conditions:

<ul>
	<li>Be an Australian citizen at least 18 years of age.</li>
	<li>Be a first-home buyer who does not currently own property.</li>
	<li>Intend to live in the property as their primary residence.</li>
	<li>Earn less than $100,000 per year for individuals, or $160,000 for couples.</li>
	<li>Purchase a property within the regional price caps, currently $950,000 in Sydney, though this is expected to rise to approximately $1.3 million ahead of the program’s launch.</li>
</ul>

While the Help to Buy Scheme does not solve affordability challenges across the board, it does offer a more accessible pathway for a defined segment of the market, particularly younger buyers with moderate incomes who have been priced out of traditional lending routes.

The scheme is expected to commence in NSW in late 2025, as part of a national rollout.

Under the new model, purchasers can enter the property market with as little as a two per cent deposit, well below the traditional 10 to 20 per cent usually required

Help to Buy Scheme: What first home buyers in NSW need to know

The First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) is a government initiative designed to help eligible first-time home buyers by offering financial assistance towards the purchase or construction of a new home.

While the FHOG is a nationwide program, it is administered separately by each state and territory, meaning the eligibility criteria, grant amounts, and property requirements can vary depending on your location. This means that the amount available and the conditions attached to the grant will differ, so it is important to check the specific guidelines for your state or territory.

It’s important to note that the FHOG is just one of several incentives available to first home buyers. In most states and territories, the grant is not linked to stamp duty exemptions or concessions, with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The FHOG is typically a one-off payment, reducing the overall cost of purchasing or building a new home before any stamp duty concessions are applied.

Below, we provide a breakdown of the First Home Owner Grants available across Australia, outlining the specific details for each state and territory.

<h2>New South Wales First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes valued up to $600,000. For land purchases and owner-builders, the threshold extends to $750,000.

Stamp Duty Benefits: Provides full stamp duty exemption for homes valued up to $800,000, with concessions available for properties up to $1 million.

<h2>Victoria South Wales First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Provides a $10,000 grant for first-home buyers purchasing or building new homes valued up to $750,000.

Stamp Duty Benefits: Offers full stamp duty exemption for properties up to $600,000, with concessions available up to $750,000.

<h2>Queensland First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Offers $30,000 for contracts signed between 20 November 2023 and 30 June 2025. The FHOG applies to new homes valued up to $750,000.

Stamp Duty Concessions: Provides additional concessions for properties valued up to $800,000.

<h2>Western Australia First Home Owner Grant</h2>

&nbsp;

First Home Owner Grant: Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes valued up to $750,000 in the southern regions and up to $1 million in the northern regions.

Stamp Duty Concessions: Available for homes valued up to $600,000 for transactions entered into on or after 9 May 2024.

<h2>Australian Capital Territory First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Replaced by the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, offering full stamp duty concessions for eligible buyers.

<h2>South Australia First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Provides up to $15,000 for new homes, including houses, apartments, and townhouses. As of 6 June 2024, there is no property value cap for eligibility.

Stamp Duty Relief: Available for new homes and vacant land purchases.

<h2>Tasmania First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes and off the plan purchases.

Stamp Duty Exemption: Between 18 February 2024 and 30 June 2026, first home buyers of established homes valued up to $750,000 receive a full exemption on property transfer duty.

<h2>Northern Territory First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: The Northern Territory provides a $10,000 grant for new homes only. Additional government grants and concessions are available for first home buyers.

Stamp Duty Exemption: The only stamp duty exemption available to property buyers is the House and Land Package Exemption (HLPE).

Eligibility criteria and application processes differ across states. Prospective buyers should refer to their respective state revenue offices for full details on grant availability, conditions, and additional concessions.

Every First Home Owner Grant for new property by state

In the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable architecture and environmentally conscious design, systems and ratings in place can help determine the energy efficiency of residential buildings in Australia.

Australia has multiple building rating systems that evaluate energy efficiency and sustainability in existing and new building designs.

Some systems assess individual building components, while others provide an overall rating for the entire structure.

A rating system ensures that homes are comfortable and energy-efficient, whether you are buying, renovating, or building.

NatHERS (Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme) is a common way for new homes to meet energy efficiency requirements.

As new developments continue to shape the urban environment, understanding NatHERS ratings becomes essential for developers and homeowners. This article delves into the concept of NatHERS ratings, their significance, and how they contribute to creating energy-efficient homes.

<h2>What is NatHERS?</h2>

NatHERS is a national initiative implemented by the Australian government to promote energy efficiency in residential buildings. The scheme aims to provide a standardised method for assessing the thermal performance of homes, considering factors such as insulation, orientation, ventilation, and building materials.&nbsp;

NatHERS ratings are the most common way new homes meet the National Construction Code's (NCC's) minimum energy efficiency requirements.&nbsp;

NatHERS assessments provide thermal and whole-home ratings for new homes, townhouses, and apartments.

The rating helps evaluate the energy performance of buildings, guides homeowners and developers to make informed decisions about the energy efficiency of their properties, and encourages the construction of more sustainable, comfortable, and cost-effective homes.

<h2>How NatHERS Ratings Work</h2>

NatHERS ratings are determined through four accredited software tools (AccuRate, BERS Pro, FirstRate5, HERO) using a calculation engine CSIRO developed to predict building temperature based on various factors.

The tools can model complex effects of building mass, insulation, window size, and other elements.

The outcome is a star rating that reflects the building's overall thermal efficiency, indicating how well it can maintain a comfortable indoor temperature without excessive reliance on heating or cooling systems.

The star rating scale ranges from 0 to 10, with a 6-star rating being the minimum requirement for compliance with the National Construction Code (NCC).&nbsp;

Achieving a higher star rating demonstrates a commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability, as the building is better equipped to minimise its environmental impact and reduce long-term energy costs.

Anyone can use NatHERS tools, but accredited assessors can provide certified ratings and professional advice.

<h2>Benefits of Higher NatHERS Ratings</h2>

Energy Efficiency: Buildings with higher NatHERS ratings are more energy-efficient, requiring less heating and cooling energy. This reduces the structure's carbon footprint and lowers occupants' energy bills.

Cost Savings: Homes with higher NatHERS ratings are generally more energy-efficient, resulting in reduced energy consumption for heating and cooling. This translates to lower energy bills for homeowners, making sustainable living environmentally friendly and economically viable in the long run.

Environmental Impact: Lower energy consumption directly translates to a reduced environmental impact. Buildings with higher NatHERS ratings contribute to the overall goal of mitigating climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions associated with heating and cooling systems.

Improved Comfort: Buildings with high NatHERS ratings offer better thermal comfort to occupants. Proper insulation, well-designed ventilation, and optimal orientation maintain a consistent and comfortable indoor temperature, providing occupants with a more enjoyable and healthier space.

Market Value and Desirability: Higher NatHERS ratings can enhance the market value of a property. As energy efficiency becomes a more significant consideration for homebuyers, a well-rated building may attract a premium price and stand out in the real estate market.

Compliance with Building Codes: NatHERS ratings are a vital component of the National Construction Code (NCC), and compliance with these ratings is often a mandatory requirement for new developments. Local councils and planning authorities may set minimum energy efficiency standards that must be met to obtain development approval.

The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) is a crucial initiative shaping the future of energy-efficient, resilient, and cost-effective homes. With its recent upgrades, NatHERS has evolved into a world-leading tool for the building sector, supporting the global commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Staff Writer

What is a NatHERS rating in new off the plan apartment developments?

Mixed-use developments have gained significant popularity across Australia in recent years due to their unique blend of residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.

Unlike traditional single-purpose developments, mixed-use projects offer a harmonious integration of various functions within a single locale.

Residential units seamlessly coexist with commercial establishments, retail outlets, dining venues, entertainment hubs, and recreational facilities, with the combination not only enhances convenience but also fosters a vibrant lifestyle and a sense of community.

<h3>Convenience and accessibility</h3>

Mixed-use developments are designed with convenience in mind. They often integrate residential units with commercial spaces, retail outlets, restaurants, and recreational facilities, creating a self-contained community.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=114215 project_image_fid=204874]

The proximity allows residents to enjoy the convenience of having essential amenities and services within walking distance. Whether it's grabbing a cup of coffee, going grocery shopping, or accessing healthcare services, everything is conveniently located, saving residents time and effort.

<h3>Vibrant lifestyle and community</h3>

One of the major advantages of mixed-use developments is the vibrant lifestyle they offer. With a diverse range of amenities and communal spaces, residents have ample opportunities to interact, socialise, and build a sense of community.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=107714 project_image_fid=214122]

The presence of parks, community centres, and shared spaces fosters a lively atmosphere, encouraging residents to engage in various activities and events. The vibrant lifestyle within these developments creates a unique sense of belonging and camaraderie among the residents.

<h3>Potential for higher rental yields and property value appreciation</h3>

Mixed-use developments tend to attract a broad range of tenants and buyers due to their versatile nature. This high demand can result in higher rental yields for investors and potentially lead to property value appreciation over time.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=139989 project_image_fid=212887]

The integration of commercial and retail spaces attracts businesses, which can provide a stable rental income stream. Additionally, the popularity of mixed-use developments often drives up property values, making them a potentially lucrative investment in the long term.

<h3>Enhanced security and maintenance</h3>

Mixed-use developments typically have comprehensive security measures in place. With controlled access points, CCTV surveillance, and professional security staff, residents can enjoy enhanced safety and peace of mind.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108019 project_image_fid=212658]

Additionally, these developments often have dedicated maintenance teams responsible for the upkeep of common areas, landscaping, and infrastructure. This ensures that the overall appearance and functionality of the development are well-maintained, creating a pleasant living environment for residents.

<h3>Live-work-play balance</h3>

One of the key attractions of mixed-use developments is the ability to achieve a desirable live-work-play balance. The integration of residential and commercial spaces allows residents to live closer to their workplaces, reducing commuting time and improving work-life balance.

The proximity to various amenities and recreational facilities encourages an active and healthy lifestyle. Residents can easily access fitness centres, parks, restaurants, and entertainment options, all within the same development, leading to a more fulfilling and convenient way of life.

alisonwarters@gmail.com

The top five reasons to buy in a mixed-use development

When buying a property, everyone needs to be aware of the additional costs that come as part of the buying process.

Often the largest outlay, after the deposit which goes to the bank, is stamp duty.

<h2 style="line-height: 1.38;">What is Stamp Duty?</h2>

Stamp duty is an extra tax to pay the government when you buy land, a property, and other certain assets.

It happens when the legal ownership is transferred. It can also be known as property transfer duty or transfer duty.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C32BWkB5--c" title="YouTube video player" width="660"></iframe>

<h2>Who pays Stamp Duty?</h2>

In some circumstances, you may get an exemption. For some states, you won’t have to pay for stamp duty if you are a first home buyer or a pensioner for houses under a particular price. There are also stamp duty concessions, where you may be entitled to a discount.

<h2>How much does Stamp Duty cost?</h2>

Each state has different rules which affect how much you need to pay. These rules can affect the rate you pay, and the timeframe you will need to pay in. Before you buy land or a property, make sure you check the up-to-date information for your state’s stamp duty.

You can use a free stamp duty calculator online to see approximately how much you’ll need to pay. Find out if you’re eligible for an exemption by enquiring on a project via Urban!

Overall, the stamp duty you need to pay will depend on:

<ul>
	<li aria-level="1">How much your land/property is worth</li>
	<li aria-level="1">Where your land/property is located</li>
	<li aria-level="1">What type of land/property it is</li>
</ul>

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Ellen Walker

Off-the-plan property explained: What is stamp duty?

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Buyers seeking $22,490 NSW stamp duty savings need to monitor construction progress at their desired new residential complex.
Savvy property buyers will know that under the NSW government’s home builders’ bonus you pay no stamp duty on properties priced under $600,000 that are not yet under construction.
<img src="/images/stories/centralpark1.jpg">
Construction is deemed as having started once the building gets to the first residential floor.
The whole government scheme runs until June 30, but there are critical deadlines at major apartment projects falling between now and then.
<img style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial;" src="/images/stories/parklane.jpg">
The deadline is fast approaching for Park Lane (pictured above), designed by Johnson Pilton Walker at the Central Park project near Broadway in Sydney.
It comprises two buildings linked by a leafy laneway.
<img src="/images/stories/centralpark2.jpg">
Buyers must take advantage of full stamp duty concessions in Park Lane’s low-rise park-front building by March 13.
There’s a little longer –March 22 – for Park Lane’s 18-storey tower building.
The full 100% stamp duty concession remains in effect only until concrete is poured to create the first residential slab at a new development; after this time, the saving on stamp duty reduces to a 25% saving for properties up to the $600,000 mark.
<img src="/images/stories/centralpark3.jpg">
“There’s apartments priced under $600,000 to choose from at Park Lane, including one-bedroom suites of 42 square metres  priced from $585,000 with a stamp duty saving of $21,815, to one-bedroom apartments of 52 square metres priced from $590,000 with a stamp duty saving of $22,040,” Frasers Property Australia group sales manager Adam Sparkes says.
Park Lane has 393 apartments and SOHO terraces with completion expected between April and December 2013.
<img src="/images/stories/centralpark4.jpg">
Central Park is being developed in joint venture between Frasers Property Australia Pty Ltd (Frasers) and Sekisui House Australia Holdings Pty Limited (Sekisui House).
Two display apartments at Park Lane are open at the Central Park Display Pavilion, 80 Broadway Chippendale.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Time running out for stamp duty-free purchases at Sydney’s Central Park

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Experienced property developer Jack Ray has become the latest Mermaid Beach millionaire’s row sales victim.
His two-bedroom Hedges Avenue beachfront cottage has been sold after being listed with $4.2 million-plus hopes through Michael Kollosche at Ray White Broadbeach.
No sale price has been revealed.
He had paid $5.85 million for the property in September 2008, buying from a company linked to another high-profile developer, Mike Moorhead.
Moorhead had done a full renovation on the house, so Ray’s only additions were to enclose the garage.
The home is on a 405-square-metre block opposite the Republic Café.
The cottage’s peak sale was $6.75 million in 2007 when sold by hypnotherapist Carolyn Balanda, having previously traded at $5.97 million in 2006.
Moorhead and Balanda had also been involved in a 2007 sale when she sold to Moorhead on Albatross Avenue for $8.45 million.
Moorhead then sold it for $7 million in 2008, and Kollosche had the 782-square-metre vacant block recently listed at $5.9 million plus until its withdrawal earlier this month.
When he listed last October Ray indicated the likelihood that he would buy again in Mermaid Beach possibly on nearby Albatross Avenue with rebuilding intentions with his partner, high-profile television personality Natalie Gruzlewski, the host of The Farmer Wants a Wife.
 
 
 
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Property developer Jack Ray and Natalie Gruzlewski looking elsewhere on Mermaid Beach despite copping loss

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The Potts Point investment apartment of actor Russell Crowe has been snappily sold on <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/title-tattle/russell-crowe-re-lists-his-potts-point-investment-apartmenttitle-tattle" target="_blank">its recent relisting. </a>
Around $2 million was tipped for the top-floor apartment through Brad Pillinger at Pillinger Property. The sale price hasn’t been revealed on the apartment, which Crowe bought for $1.5 million in 2001 from the theatre director Jim Sharman.
Its understood to be a tad under $2 million given what prospective buyers were being told shortly before the sold sticker was posted.
More than $2 million was being sought <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/russell-crowe-lists-%242-million-sydney-investment-apartment/2011101851987" target="_blank">on its initial listing last October</a>. The two level Victoria Street apartment which was made available to South Sydney footballer recruits is at the northern end of the plane tree-lined Parisian-style strip. Sharman had bought the apartment set in a charming terrace row in 1984 for $310,000.
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Russell Crowe secures sale second time around for Potts Point investment: Title Tattle

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Toowoomba is one of just <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/hotspots/queensland-towns-dominate-list-of-hotspot-kings-for-three-years/2012030553676">nine locations</a> that has been listed as an investment hotspot three years running (2010-2012) by Australian Property Investor magazine in its annual Hot 100 list.
As Australia's second-largest inland city (after Canberra), Toowoomba could benefit from providing services to the Surat Basin about 160 kilometres to the north west, Australia’s largest coal seam gas (CSG) mine.
However, the town is still recovering from the devastating effects of the 2011 inland tsunami that claimed 22 local lives and caused $7 billion worth of damage to homes and infrastructure in the town and neighbouring Lockyer Valley. Residents complain that the pace of reconstruction remains slow while some home owners continue to battle with insurers to rebuild their homes.
Location and demographics
Toowoomba is located 127 kilometres west of Brisbane. It is bounded by the South Burnett region in the north, the Somerset region and the Lockyer Valley region in the east, the Southern Downs region and the Goondiwindi region in the south, and the Dalby region in the west.
It has an estimated district population of about 150,000, which is expected to reach 231,000 by 2031 and possibly as high as 250,000 under a high-growth scenario (Canberra has a current population of 358,000).
The Queensland government forecasts Highfields, 14 kilometres north of Toowoomba, along with Toowoomba south-east, Toowoomba west and Westbrook, 12 kilometres south of Toowoomba, to grow the fastest over the next four years.
According to ABS statistics, the Toowoomba municipality’s unemployment rate dropped from 3.5% to 1.6% between 2005 and 2009, and its population grew by 7%.
 Key property data
According to RP Data, Toowoomba is more affordable than nearby Chinchilla (also a mining hotspot) and significantly more affordable than hotspot king Gladstone, though returns are lower.
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="width: 470px;"><tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="123">
 
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Median house price
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Yield
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Median unit prices
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Yield
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Moranbah
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$510,000
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
12%
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
SNR
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
SNR
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Rockhampton
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$217,500
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
6%
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$447,500
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Gladstone
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$437,000
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
5%
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$350,000
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
7%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Toowoomba
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$275,000
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
5%
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$233,500
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="123">
Chinchilla
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$320,000
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
5%
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
$252,500
</td>
<td valign="top" width="123">
8%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
 
About a third (31%) of residents in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley rent.
Hotspotting.com.au director Terry Ryder warns against investing in locations solely reliant on the resources boom.
In this respect, Toowoomba is more than just a base for mining companies. It has a diverse economy with major industries including manufacturing, agriculture and education. Toowoomba has more than 23 private schools and a technical college, as well as being home to a campus of the University of Southern Queensland.
Ryder describes Toowoomba as a “prime example of a strong regional economy that benefits from the resources boom but doesn’t rely on it – making it a safe long-term bet for investors.
“Toowoomba has a diverse economy, a secure water supply … and an exciting future given everything that is happening in the neighbouring Surat Basin, Australia’s new resources boom province,” Ryder explains as part of his reason for selecting Toowoomba in Smart Property Investment magazine’s 2012 list of 50 locations with the most price growth potential.
Toowoomba was also one of <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/australian-capital-territory/of-15000-suburbs-21-rise-to-the-top-as-worth-a-look-for-investors/2011072750933" target="_blank">only 21 locations to be included on hotspot lists</a> of both Your Investment Property magazine and Australian Property Investor last year.
Toowoomba is the top pick of RP Data’s David Williams, who says “Toowoomba is quickly becoming a base town for [CSG] mining companies”.
Current state of the market
According to the January 2012 ANZ Australian Housing Chart book, Toowoomba was one of the better-performing regional locations in Queensland, with price growth of around 3%. This is well below that of hotspot king Gladstone, but it is higher than the overall regional Queensland market and Brisbane.
Click to enlarge
<a href="/images/stories/qldgrowth.gif" rel="shadowbox" title="Click to enlarge"><img src="/images/stories/qldgrowththumb.gif"></a>
Source: ANZ January 2012 Housing Chart Book
Demand for property in Toowoomba will likely be underpinned by strong population growth in the neighbouring Lockyer Valley, which is one of Australia’s fastest-growing regional areas:
Click to enlarge
<a href="/images/stories/fastregional.gif" rel="shadowbox" title="Click to enlarge"><img src="/images/stories/fastregionalthumb.gif"></a>
Source: ANZ January 2012 Housing Chart Book
What local estate agents say
Lynn McLean, owner of Realpoint Property owner, reports an increase in sales in January. "It's all starting to finally happen for the Surat Basin," she told the Toowoomba Chronicle. "Last week I sold five other blocks of land specifically to cater for the mining industry.”
McLean says she has “a waiting list of people looking for blocks of units and duplexes” and has been taking delegations of interstate and overseas investors on tour of the city's real estate.
She is currently marketing a two-bedroom house on Jellicoe Street (pictured below) on a 1,400-square metre-lot for $315,000 as a development opportunity suited for mine workers.
<img width="470" src="/images/stories/toow1.jpg">
“At the very western end of Jellicoe Street, so is perfectly situated for accommodation units for the mining workers,” she writes.
It is currently rented at $205 per week, reflecting a yield of 3.38%
“You could divide it into two lots, both lots would have good street frontage or you could remove the house and build five units,” she says.
A pick-up in activity has also been noted by Collier International's Dominic Ryan, after a slow 2011.
According to Ryan there has been a lot of interest of late from investors in towns near the Surat Basin. Ryan expects rents to start rising.
Another agent, Daniel Steinberg from Ray White Toowoomba is selling this four-bedroom house on Winning Street currently rented at $355 per week at an asking price of $345,000.
This equates to a yield of 5.35%.
<img width="470" src="/images/stories/toow2.jpg">
“Act now before the mining rental boom hits the west side of Toowoomba,” he writes.
Reasons to buy:
<ul>
<li>Growing reputation as gateway to Surat Basin driving up residential sales</li>
<li>More affordable than other regional locations near mining activity</li>
<li>Growing population </li>
<li>Not just reliant on mining but a thriving multi-sector regional town</li>
<li>Investors in new homes in Toowoomba can take advantage of the $10,000 building boost until April</li>
</ul>
Reasons not to buy:
<ul>
<li>Physical scars still remain from the devastating inland tsunami </li>
<li>Reports that buyers remain “spooked” about buying in flood-affected towns.</li>
</ul>
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lschlesinger-FZcF9M3vE6

Hotspots: Toowoomba could be headed for recovery

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Cookbook queen Donna Hay and her butcher husband, Bill Wilson, have put a $2.4 million asking price on their Paddington terrace after a $2.3 million vendor bid at its weekend auction.
The Windsor Street terrace – which comes in Tabbereresque all-white – was bought for $1.42 million in 2003 as an investment.
The couple also own a $3.85 million Watsons Bay residence. They retain another investment property in Holdsworth Street, Woollahra, which was bought for $1,615,000 in 2008 for Hay’s homewares shop.
The asking price came as there were two registered parties who did not bid along with two other parties whose finance wasn't locked in and they weren't ready to commit in the lead-up to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/cookbook-queen-donna-hay-serves-up-seconds-for-paddington-terrace-buyers-title-tattle/2012022253514">its proposed weekend auction listing </a>with $2.4 million hopes through McGrath agent James Dack.
Elsewhere in Paddington the food editor and cookery writer, Loukie Werle, sold her Bent Street terrace before its scheduled auction through Debbie Donnelley of goodyerDonnelley Real Estate. It last traded for $202,500 in 1985. The three level terrace - marketed as having a spectacular kitchen - sold at an undisclosed price, but understood to be well over its $2 million plus hopes. 
 
 
 
 
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Cookbook queen Donna Hay passes in Paddington terrace from weekend auction: Title Tattle

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Neerim House, the opulent estate in Castle Cove, looks like it's found a potential buyer.
It last sold in 2005 for $9,008,000, and the internet ads for the eight-bedroom mansion on 9,400 square metres of waterfront reserve overlooking Middle Harbour now say "under offer”.
It’s been listed by Chris Osborne at Raine &amp; Horne Neutral Bay, with RP Data showing it's been available for sale since early February. Its asking price has not been officially disclosed, but local agents say it had been expected to sell for around $11 million.
The mansion was built in 1990 by Rob Christie, who bought the one-hectare block for $900,000 from cleaning contractor John Schaeffer in 1987. The Lims family, who paid $4.1 million for the property in 1993, extended and renovated the residence to include a 15-seat home cinema, teppanyaki room and herb-infusion steamroom before its 2005 sale to the current vendors.
Other features include a sunken lounge room built around a central courtyard, billiards room, library, glass-enclosed pool, spa, change rooms, gym, tennis court, cabana, six-car garage, separate guest quarters and landscaped gardens.
 
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Castle Cove's Neerim House attracts buyer attention

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Crocodile Dundee stars Paul Hogan and wife Linda Kozlowski have listed their Malibu estate for sale. Hogan's 493-square-metre contemporary home came on the market last week at $6,475,000. The Huffington Post noted Hogan bought the house in 2009 for about $25,000 less.
The exclusive Serra Retreat neighbourhood, while not beachfront, has much larger lot sizes than Malibu's other prized housing developments.
Hogan's four-bedroom home, described as "the Hamptons meet modern minimalism," sits on about 2,000 square metres and includes a 21-metre pool and grassy yard.
The Malibu home is listed by Eytan Levin of The Levin Group.
The estate shares the same guarded gates with Kelsey Grammer and Mel Gibson homes..
Hogan's lawyer Andrew Robinson said the listing had nothing to do with Hogan's much-publicised battle with the Australian Tax Office.
Robinson confirmed the listing to News Ltd papers but said the sale was "not to raise money to pay legal costs or any alleged tax debts". Instead, he said Hogan had "two houses in the LA area and doesn't need one of them”. Hogan's other home is in Santa Barbara, 90 minutes north of LA.
Robinson indicated future proximity to schooling for Hogan's teenage son, Chance, might have been more of a factor in the listing decision.
"The choice of where he will live will be more influenced in the future by Chance's schooling requirements," he said.
Hogan, Kozlowski and Chance were currently living at the Malibu residence, and Hogan initially put the Santa Barbara estate on the market. However, he did not receive reasonable offers for the Santa Barbara mansion because of the depressed top end property market and decided to sell the Malibu property instead.
The property is pitched as "very private", with "custom-built cabinetry in every room" and an "oversized garage".
Hogan bought it in 2009 for US$6.45 million ($6.08 million). The 1972-built house was bought from Scott Gillen, a stunt driver turned television show producer, who has worked on the Speed Channel's Build or Bust, a motorcycle construction reality show, and Setup, which followed 12 amateur race car drivers in a racing competition. Gillen had paid US$3,825,000 in 2008.
Hogan has been a vocal critic of the ATO, which has been probing him for seven years as part of the controversial Project Wickenby investigation.
 
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Paul Hogan lists Malibu mansion but will keep Santa Barbara

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After 150 years of ownership by the same family, a 322-hectare Hunter Valley property is up for sale.
Rockview has been run by five generations of the Deasy family.
It’s now the largest grazing property in the Pokolbin area.
It’s the first time the Deasys Road land has been marketed since Jeremiah Deasy hopped off a boat from Ireland and took ownership of the property in the days of selection in the 1860s.
In subsequent years the property was used as a fruit bottling company called Lighting, which was run from the back sheds of the property by indentured, orphaned labourers. The remnants of this bottling plant still remain.
At one point a school was built on the property.
The bodies of children who died at the property over the years are buried in the property in an area called The Cultivation.
The property is a cattle grazing property but given its location in the Hunter Valley it does come with a vineyard.
In a grove of fig trees sits the original timber homestead, which is currently used as a weekend getaway for the Malouf and Quinn families – descendants of the Deasy family.
The well-grassed rolling hills of Rockview are only interrupted by a patch of eucalyptus trees.
The farm is equipped with cattle yards and water from a number of dams. An allocation is available from the Lower Hunter Wine Country Private Irrigation district.
The property is being marketed to investors and developers with council approval to subdivide into eight 40-hectare lots.
The property’s zoning allows for resorts, wineries and restaurants.
Agent Alan Jurd from Jurd's Real Estate Cessnock has hopes of more than $5 million, with expressions of interest due April.
 
 
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awalsh-7Ub9EypybQ

Hunter Valley farm Rockview for sale after 150 years in one family

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More famous for its cheap Asian eateries, strong immigrant population and high rates of crime, Footscray and neighbouring West Footscray to feature among six suburbs within 10 kilometres of the Melbourne CBD on the latest hot 100 list of investment locations compiled by Australian Property Investor.
The four other suburbs within 10 kilometres of the city included on the sixth edition of the annual list are Carlton North, Northcote, Thornbury and Ascot Vale.
Both Footscray suburbs have the most affordable median house prices ($520,000 for Footscray and $500,000 for West Footscray) and median unit prices ($318,000 and $290,000) out of the six inner ring suburbs
Melbourne hottest suburbs with 10 kilometres of CBD 
<table style="width: 470px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Dis-tance from CBD
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Median house price
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Median unit price
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Median house rent
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Median unit 
rent
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
House yield
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Unit yield
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Carlton North
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.8 kms
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$830,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$460,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$520
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$395
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.3%
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
4.5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
North-cote
 
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
5.5km
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$800,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$445,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$495
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$335
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.2%
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.9%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Thorn- bury
 
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
7km
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$658,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$375,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$440
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$290
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.5%
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
4%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Ascot Vale
 
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
6.6km
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$707,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$468,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$450
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$340
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.3%
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.8%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
Foots- cray
 
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
6.9km
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$520,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$318,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$360
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$295
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.6%
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
4.8%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="77" valign="top">
West Foots- cray
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
9km
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$500,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$290,000
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$360
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
$240
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
3.7%
</td>
<td width="77" valign="top">
4.3%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Source: Australian Property Investor Magazine
Property consultant Peter Rogozik says the key drivers of the Footscray property market are affordability, the potential for further capital growth and continued gentrification
“Footscray is in close proximity to the expanding Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, in Melbourne’s north west, and next door to trendy Seddon Village in Seddon and Yarraville, which have both taken off over the past 20 to 30 years,” he says.
“The major attraction of Footscray is it’s the most affordable inner-city suburb where you can still find a freestanding Edwardian house on a good size block from $550,000 with an approximate 4.2% gross rental yield,” he says.
Rogozik says the suburb is shaking its unfair labelling as being “painted in crime” with a more professional demographic moving in.
Alexandra Churches from valuers WBP Property says West Footscray has a very good council that is “actively rejuvenating the Barkly Street village”.
Its other strengths are its connectedness to the Melbourne CBD, with Ballarat and Geelong roads both merging into one and heading into the Melbourne CBD.
“The Westgate Freeway also connects the suburb with the city,” says Church.
While West Footscray does not provide families with a great option of schools, Church says it has university campuses nearby, “a great multicultural food hub, major public and private hospitals, a train station upgrade and is close to a major shopping centre”.
The other Melbourne suburbs chosen because of their proximity to the CBD include Carlton North (“local facilities including parks, restaurants, bars and cafés, universities and more”); Northcote (“family-friendly suburb, where capital growth is generally strong”); Ascot Vale (“more affordable the other suburbs and well serviced by public transport”) and Thornbury (“good access to hospitals and schools and plenty of parkland”). 
Looking beyond the 10-kilometre radius, there are seven Melbourne suburbs on the list, including some surprise locations such as Sunshine, Broadmeadows and the outlying suburbs of Frankston and Dandenong.
Outside of Melbourne the regional centres of Ballarat and Bendigo as well as the country towns of Werribee and Warrnambool are also included in the hot 100.
<table style="width: 470px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Melbourne suburb
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
Distance from CBD
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
Median house price
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
Median unit price
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
Median house rent
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
Median unit 
rent
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
House yield
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
Unit yield
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Box Hill
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
13 kms
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$748,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$410,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$395
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$270
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
2.7%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
3.4%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Broad-meadows
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
15km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$359,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$305,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$310
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$290
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
4.5%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
4.9%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Dan- denong
 
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
28km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$375,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$269,000
 
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$310
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$270
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
4.3%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
5.2%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Frankston
 
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
40 kms
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$350,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$295,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$310
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$260
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
4.6%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
4.6%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Ringwood
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
27 kms
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$455,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$383,000
 
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$355
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$305
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
4%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
4.1%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Sunshine
 
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
13.2kms
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$430,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$265,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$300
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$250
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
3.6%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
4.9%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Mentone
 
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
20.3km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$584,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$396,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$450
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$295
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
4%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
3.9%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="616" colspan="8" valign="top">
Outside of Melbourne…
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Werribee
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
34.6km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$310,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$270,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$270
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$250
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
4.5%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
4.8%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Ballarat
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
102km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$270,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$220,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$270
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$190
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
5.2%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
4.5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Bendigo
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
132km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$280,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
n/a
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$300
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
n/a
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
5.6%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
n/a
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
 
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
 
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="115" valign="top">
Warr-nambool
 
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
226km
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$315,000
</td>
<td width="80" valign="top">
$241,000
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$320
</td>
<td width="72" valign="top">
$230
</td>
<td width="64" valign="top">
5.3%
</td>
<td width="53" valign="top">
5%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Source: Australian Property Investor Magazine
 
 
 
 
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Unfashionable Footscray and West Footscray among 2012 Melbourne hotspots 

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<img src="/images/stories/pacificst.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Soccer star Mark Schwarzer and his wife, Paloma, are staying in Britain, so their 1870s Watsons Bay harbourfront house has been listed for sale. The five-bedroom Victorian weatherboard is best known for its association with the Stead family. It was bought for £400 in 1917 by naturalist David Stead, when his daughter, the novelist Christina, was 14 years old. Christina, who left for London in 1928, used the locality in her books For Love Alone, The Man Who Loved Children and Seven Poor Men Of Sydney. It was built for John Harmer, a clerk in the water police office at Watsons Bay, by his father, William, a builder and ferry boat owner. During the Stead ownership the property was known as Boongarre, derived from the name of an Aborigine, Bungaree, whom Governor Lachlan Macquarie described as the chief of the Broken Bay tribe. Set on a 1,132-square-metre block, the five-bedroom house has been listed after Schwarzer did all the hard yards securing development approval for Tobias Partners alterations and extensions. He met some resistance when the likes of the US author Jonathan Franzen had asked that the house be preserved as a national heritage item. It was bought from the Pavlik family for $10.2 million in 2009. The Pavlik family bought it from the National Trust in 1991 as it had been bequeathed by Stead's third wife, botanist Thistle Harris, best known as the author of Wild Flowers Of Australia. Listing agent Brad Pillinger of Pillinger Property is quoting $12 million plus.
<img src="/images/stories/silverton.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Silverton, the freestanding 1884 Italianate mansion at Randwick in Sydney’s east (pictured above) has been relisted by the fashion designer Lisa Ho. The four-bedroom Dutruc Street property, with elegant French provincial adornments, has $3 million plus hopes. Ho has undertaken some renovations. There is also a detached teenagers' retreat on the 630-square-metre holding. It's one of three original homes known collectively as the judges' houses in Randwick's sought-after northern precinct. It’s been listed through Pauline Goodyer at GoodyerDonnelley. The street's last big sale was when Earlswood, the 1891 residence, was sold in 2010 for $4.3 million.
<img src="/images/stories/stkildard.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">The St Kilda Road, Melbourne apartment of the late Dendy Cinema co-founder Mark Josem (pictured above and below) has been listed for sale by Kay and Burton with $1.3 million-plus hopes. It occupies the whole seventh floor of the East Tower. There are therefore great views over Fawkner Park. The two-bedroom apartment comes with study lined with the photos and autographs of the big touring stars over the years: Paul Newman, James Mason, Liza Minnelli, Tony Curtis and Steve McQueen, many of whom have dined at the apartment. Mark Josem arrived in Melbourne from Poland in 1945, eventually establishing Buildex, a large home building company in 1956, which was a major contributor to the Melbourne housing boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, One of its major landmark construction projects was the Queenslodge Motel in Albert Park. In 1962 he branched out into cinema exhibition with the opening of the first of his drive-in cinemas at Sandringham. In 1969 he formed the Dendy Cinema chain with Robert Ward, which branched into distribution and then into production with films like The True story of Eskimo Nell (1975), Fantasm (1976), Blue Fire Lady (1977),;Patrick (1978), Snapshot (1979), The Naked Country (1985), Kangaroo (1986) and Club Life(1985).The complex comes with heated pool and barbecue area, tennis court and even owners' lounge. It’s been listed by Kay and Burton agents Peter Kudelka and Gary Ormrod who are taking offers until March 20. Josem died in 1986 and his widow, Ida, in January this year.
<img src="/images/stories/stkildard2.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">
The new chief executive at the Bank of Queensland Stuart Grimshaw and Susanne Grimshaw have now listed their hillside Whale Beach weekender. It follows <a target="_blank" href="/news">the recent listing of their Killara residence</a> following his posting to the Bank of Queensland. The Grimshaws paid $3.1 million in 2009 for the four-bedroom 1970s Whale Beach Road house, which goes to March 17 auction through McGrath agent Andrew Mappin with $3 million-plus expectations.  Their Killara, house which cost $3.5 million in 2003, has been listed with $4 million plus hopes through Scott Farquhar at McGrath Lindfield.
<img src="/images/stories/summerless.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Summerlees Park, the 220-hectare Yarramalong Valley farm (pictured above), has been listed for April auction through David Nolan at Webster Nolan with $4 million-plus hopes. Its best known as a Murray Grey stud dating back to its ownership by the late retailing heir Charles Lloyd Jones. The farm, which traded in 1970 for $81,000, was sold by Lloyd Jones in 1995 for $1.8 million to the current vendors, retired Colonel Ross Brown and his wife, Joan. The secluded Yarramalong Valley property comes with a three-bedroom homestead modelled on an 1830s colonial home with central courtyard. It was built by architect Roger Charlesworth in 1983. There are two additional cottages on the property, which has about 80 hectares of cleared paddocks. After its sale Lloyd Jones scaled down to a neighbouring 34-hectare estate with cottage, which was last sold for $1.6 million. For the past ten years Summerlees Park has been managed by David and Carol Skerry.
<img src="/images/stories/shellcove.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Peter Perini, from Corinthian Industries, Australia's largest door maker and manufacturer, and his wife, Rosslyn, have listed their Neutral Bay residence, Keynsham. The  1921 Arts and Crafts house (pictured above) sits on 1,300 square metres overlooking the harbour and last traded at $4.5 million. The restored Shellcove Road house has three bedrooms including a whole-floor main suite. There’s also a billiard room. Ray White LNS agent has $8 million-plus hopes with expressions of interest closing March 13.
 
<hr class="system-pagebreak">
 
<img src="/images/stories/ellenmore.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Television personality broadcaster Tim Webster and his wife, Charmian, are now prepared to take $970,000 for their Kenthurst residence (pictured above). It was bought for $910,000 in 2006. They originally sought $1.085 million in May last year, which was reduced to $1.05 million towards the end of last year. Karen Allmark at Inconjunction Real Estate Galston describes it as a low-maintenance, five-bedroom pretty hideaway retreat that’s great for dog-lovers given a huge enclosed dog area. The grounds come with a salt-water pool.
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">The Gregory family have listed their Longueville waterfront. The Belcote Road house with its 50-metre Lane Cove River waterfrontage last traded in 1994 when bought from then AJC chairman Bob Charley and wife Nina, who’d bought it 21 years earlier for $72,500. Title Tattle seems to recall that the Charleys then bought on the Kirribilli waterfront, better known as Waterhouse country, for $1.525 million from Victor and Maria Virgona, who'd paid $1.3 million in 1990 in the John Denoon-developed apartment complex. Tom and Sherry Gregory have secured council-approved Tanner Architect $1.5 million plans for a new residence. About $5 million is being sought for the property with jetty, boat shed, deep-water mooring. There are city views from the three-level house on 712 square metres, which had its top floor added in 1985. Its vast interior has several living rooms, terraces on each level, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is a rumpus room, library, cellar, study, pool, sauna and double garage. Its listed through Ray White Lane Cove agent Sandra Peach.
<img src="/images/stories/woodford.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Weroona Estate (pictured above), one of the Blue Mountain’s most significant estates, has been sold for $2.4 million through Century 21 Central Mountains Hazelbrook agent Chris Delfsma. The estate, originally established in 1905, is located in historic township of Woodford some 90 minutes from the Sydney CBD. It’s 13.7 acres (5.5 hectares) of grounds with formal gardens, level lawns, pool, cabana and gazebo and a refurbished residence designed by the assistant architect on the Sydney Opera House. The home includes a grand lounge room with a marble fireplace, formal dining and sitting rooms, a sophisticated stone kitchen with commercial oven, a huge casual entertaining room with an integrated home theatre, seven enormous bedrooms, an office, six bathrooms, outdoor entertaining terraces, and a three-car garage. The grounds also feature the original 1905 gatehouse, presenting the perfect guest cottage or caretaker’s quarters. There is also the property’s original stables, which have been updated to provide a workshop. It was once the Weroona boarding house run by Morris Cooper until the late 1990s.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/march1nepean]}
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Portsea’s had its quietest summer selling season in recent memory. Few trophy listings, so even fewer actual sales. From the officially known data, the highest publicly recorded sale was $2,375,000 on the golf course on Relph Avenue. So summer’s done and dusted and Kay &amp; Burton Portsea agent Liz Jensen is now onto her Easter listings. Dundonald (pictured above), the five-bedroom, three-bathroom 1917 limestone residence opposite Fishermans Beach, has been with the Boykett  family since its construction. Set on 1,724 square metres of level Point Nepean Road lawns, it’s only been recently refreshed. More than $2.75 million is being sought. Summer's shining moment was the delayed terms settlement in December of the landmark clifftop Ilyuka to John Higgins, who ran a family paint business in Brunswick before his windfall investment in Polish breweries. Its sale – Victoria's record house sale – was officially recorded at $26 million after much speculation since its December 2010 exchange by the former Computershare director Michele O'Halloran. The 1930s Spanish Mission house was marketed by Ross Savas and the veteran agent Gerald Delany, who has since departed Kay &amp; Burton, and despite much speculation has yet to take his open for inspection sign boards to any other agency. Ilyuka, a sprawling house built for American oil tycoon Harry Cornforth in 1929-30, was marketed globally with a campaign that included a five-minute movie set in the mansion. O'Halloran bought the mansion in 1999 for $7.5 million and then secured $1.6 million for the 742-square-metre former vegie patch in a subsequent disposal.
 
<img src="/images/stories/sutherlandcres.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">The property developer and yacht-racing identity George Snow and his wife, Sabrina, have abandoned plans to move into a Darling Point penthouse (pictured above). The Snows have put the penthouse on the market through Bart Doff of Laing+Simmons Double Bay and McGrath's Ben Collier as their Point Piper waterfront residence, Deauville, has not been sold. Snow, best known for twice taking line honours in the Sydney to Hobart as the owner-skipper of super-maxi yacht Brindabella, had spent $8.5 million on the penthouse with marina last March. Their five-bedroom 1935 Longworth Avenue waterfront house, which last sold for $3 million in 1993, comes with direct private access to Lady Martins Beach. More than $17 million was being sought when it went to June auction. It now sits on the books of Pillinger Real Estate.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/feb29capeschank]}
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Construction mogul Daniel Grollo has sold his Cape Schanck holiday house (pictured above). Its sale price has not been disclosed, but the five-bedroom, four bathroom house, which offers sweeping views of Bass Strait, <a target="_blank" href="/news">was listed pre-Christmas with $2 million-plus hopes</a>. Set on the doorstep of the exclusive National Golf Club, the house sits on 3,155 square metres. It comes with three living areas, gourmet kitchen, wine cellar, theatre, bar, horizon pool and a double garage. Kay &amp; Burton Flinders agent Andrew Hines had the listing. Grollo bought the property for $2.45 million mid-2008 following several unsuccessful sales campaigns in which the house was quoted at prices from $2.7 million to $4 million. It had been designed by Waterface Living Architecture for friends Dr Dick Merigan, a GP with a large practice in Rowville, and Paul Goss, owner of Modern Milk Supplies. 
<img src="/images/stories/rathven.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin: 5px;">Rathven, the rarely traded 1887 Randwick residence, has been sold – almost one year after its auction. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom Italianate colonial villa that sits on a 2,117-square-metre St Marks Road block fetched around $6.3 million through Ballard Property agent Bill Bridges. The grounds come with an 18-metre pool, a spa and a tennis court. It was built by the colonial carpenter George Raffan on land that extended to the bottom of Glebe Gully, with the gardens featuring Norfolk Island pines, huge bamboos and two Port Jackson fig trees. After his arrival from Scotland in 1874, Raffan had a shop on Bridge Street near the Tank Stream. Raffan pioneered the cement industry and became a pastoralist, owning Lue and Cooyal stations at Mudgee. After its 1927 sale by Dr Abraham M. Loewenthal, Rathven operated as a boarding school for Sydney Grammar School until 1976. It was heritage listed in 1979 by then planning minister Paul Landa after 72 residential apartments were proposed for the site. It last traded, derelict, in 1982 for $410,000 when bought by gastroenterologist Dr Terry Bolin and his wife, Robin. The previous Randwick record stood at $5.45 million on Wentworth Street last year, which narrowly eclipsed the $5.3 sale in 2010 of the residence of the retired Swans coach Paul Roos and his wife, Tami.
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