Ever dreamt about purchasing a lavish, designer house in a prestige waterfront suburb? Well, if you are a serious investor, you should put a stop to that particular dream right now.

Rather than suburbs distinguished by sparkling water views and shady tree-lined avenues, it is suburbs with good transport links, particularly commuter train links, which you should be looking at.

According to Hotspotting’s Terry Ryder, 10 of the top 12 Brisbane suburbs and nine of the top 12 Sydney suburbs for long-term capital growth have commuter train links. The situation is similar in Melbourne and Perth.

Not only do such suburbs offer residents access to work hubs (along with access to desirable amenities and services), but they can often generate work themselves – particularly during construction and development periods.

For these reasons, investors interesting in Melbourne should take heed of last week’s VicTrack announcement that 10 suburbs are set to benefit from $1 billion direct investment in the Station Precinct Enhancement Program.

The programme aims to make use of under-utilised government land to significantly improve railway stations along with a mix of housing, retail, commercial and public spaces for the surrounding communities.

It is expected to create more than 3,000 direct project delivery jobs and a further 5,000 indirect jobs through construction. It also has the potential to support more than 800 full-time commercial and retail jobs after the project has been completed.

Victoria’s Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder said that the three sites already selected for the programme are in the following suburbs:

 

  • Jewell
  • Hampton
  • Alphington
Mulder said that a further seven sites are being investigated for development. They are in the following suburbs:

 

  • Essendon
  • Windsor
  • West Footscray
  • Collingwood
  • East Richmond
  • Ringwood
  • Watsonia
According to economic modelling, the 10 sites identified for potential development will facilitate over $1 billion in investment opportunities, over the next three to five years, and $5 billion in economic stimulus.

Mulder said the programme will create a good mix of housing, retail, commercial and community spaces located right next to the rail corridor.

“This will in turn create vibrant, dynamic, liveable and accessible places – places where people want to live.”