Geelong has emerged as a hotspot for investors seeking rental properties, according to a national price comparison expert.
A fall in vacancy rates and rising house prices made the city a target for “rentvestors”, Mozo’s Steve Jovcevski said.
Vacancies had halved from five to 2.6 per over the past 12 months, but the median house price had increased almost 7 per cent to $647,000, Mr Jovcevski said.
He also noted Geelong’s proximity to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road along with “strong work opportunities in education, health care and manufacturing”.
“With a strong drop in vacancy rates and steady price growth in houses, Geelong makes a smart investment given its prime location, stable job market and solid infrastructure,” he said.
The assessment follows the launch of a new property insight tool covering every residential address in the Geelong region.
View.com.au’s Property 360 gives users current valuations and past sale prices for more than 10 million properties across Australia.
Users can also obtain updated price estimates for additions such as extra bedrooms or bathrooms.
View.com.au is a relaunch of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s previous website.
The new site retains its predecessor’s listings of houses for sale and rent but adds the insights tool and other functions.
The Indy has been promoting view.com.au since parent company Star News Group recently became a partner in the website.
Indy managing editor Tony Galpin said view.com.au arrived at an ideal time for local investors.
“The ability to look up the prices and previous sales value of as many properties as you like for free is a real advantage to investors,” he said.
“Market insights such as this usually come from other companies at a charge per property, so it’s a great way to do your homework without accumulating big bills.”
Property 360 was also invaluable to anyone wanting to sell their home or find out the previous and current selling prices of other properties, Mr Galpin said.
“Even if you’re not selling or buying it’s just a lot of fun looking up all the figures on any home you choose.
“It’s certainly entertaining, with useful information, too.
“And if you are in the market for a new home, view.com.au has lots of local listings and rentals as well.
“It’s a complete real estate website with the added value of Property 360.”
