Melbourne may have reached the peak of its cycle, but that doesn't mean there aren't investment opportunities - such as in inner western suburb Footscray.
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West Melbourne suburb Footscray is located just 6km from the CBD, straddling the Maribyrnong River. It provides a plethora of transport options, with a number of train and tram routes into the city, along with numerous buses. It’s well-served for amenities too, with shops, cafes and restaurants centred around the Footscray Market at the junction of Hopkins Street and Irving Street. The suburb is also well-known for the Melbourne Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market: however, this is moving to Epping in 2012.
Despite having benefitted from Melbourne’s property boom, unit rental yields have remained robust, with the average yield at 4.41%. Vacancy rates are relatively high at 3.3% (SQM Research.
Like much of Melbourne, Footscray has seen significant capital growth over the last few years, with five-year growth at 97%. Growth has slowed in the last year: however, the suburb has been earmarked for significant development as a key activity area in Melbourne’s 2030 plan, which is predicted to kickstart population and value growth.
The rail station has already been significantly redeveloped, with a further upgrade of rail services planned due to continuing development of the regional rail link, this time connecting Werribee to Melbourne. Footscray is also a key area in the Westlink road project, with a tunnel planned to go under Footscray: if this were to go ahead, then significant amounts of heavy traffic would be removed from Footscray’s streets. The movement of the Melbourne wholesale markets to Epping will also see wholesale redevelopment of that land, with mixed commercial and residential developments likely to move in.
Streets to steer clear of include major thoroughfares such as the Princes Highway, Footscray Road and the Docklands Highway. Head towards the north of the suburb, which is closer to Footscray Park and the Flemington Racecourse across the river.
