The café latte hipster set are making Melbourne’s inner west a hot area for property.
Once an exclusively working class area, the western suburbs are proving a great way for young Melbourne hipsters to get a foot in the property door.
The inner west of Melbourne offers affordable prices at a location that is close to the city.
History has shown that when industrial areas such as these undergo gentrification, property prices rise as a result. Residential property gradually takes over from the commercial and industrial elements, and the area becomes more and more attractive for home-buyers.
Andrew Wilson, from Australian Property Monitors told The Age that a new sort of demographic was now moving into the western suburbs.
“It has had a lower socio-economic group profile, but it’s important to remember that areas such as Richmond, Prahran and Brunswick were slums and they gentrified to the east and north,” he said.
Median house prices in the inner west have risen sharply over the last six months. Seddon, for example, has had a median price rise from $637,500 to $735,000. Williamstown also saw a median rise from $656,250 to $715,000.
Mr Wilson said these are numbers that are usually associated with middle class suburbs.
RP Data figures show 4.3 per cent of houses in the western suburbs that are within 10 kilometres of the CBD have sold for less than $400,000 over the past 12 months.
Jas Stephens from Craig Stephens told The Age people aged between 25 – 35 were the biggest buyers of property in the inner west right now.
“Low interest rates have allowed people to get into the market and go and buy their first single-fronted Victorian house,” he said.
“They’ve gone from the $450,000 – $550,000 mark to $550,000 – $650,000 over the past 12 months.”
“The café latte culture is a major part of the attraction. People have their favourite barista, their favourite organic grocer, and they eat and drink in their local village area.”
