Gracemere

Hi,

First post ever, enjoying the good info in the forums.

Ive been doing my research on investment properties around the Rocky area. Im finding alot of mixed info on Gracemere.

Looks as if rent is dropping in the area signficantly over the past 12 months due to over supply.

I see developments such as Lilly Pilly Gardens forecasting rental at $600pw for 3 BR townhouses (furnished) and high 400's unfurnished with supposed low vacancy rates, although the info i have is that vacancies are quite high at the moment in the area.

Im also having issues determining the realistic flood risk of gracemere in particular. Other areas such as depot hill etc look very high risk, can anyone assist me with info?

If anyone can shed any light on gracemere I would be very appreciative

Cheers

The property managers I have talked to have said that the current vacancy rate in the Gracemere area is very high at 8%, which is dragging the rest of Rockhampton which is still sitting at between 2-3%.

Some of the townhouses in Gracemere are asking rather unrealistic rents considering most 4 bedroom houses that were renting in the high $300s/low 400s per week a year ago are now back into the low to mid $300s per week.

Gracemere is not flood prone, it's on higher ground to the south of the flood prone Yeppen Lagoon. It does, however, get cut off from the rest of Rockhampton when the lagoon floods. That will change once the new bridge on the Bruce Highway opens in 2016.

Depot Hill is the most flood prone area in Rockhampton, with almost all of the suburb in the Q100 flood area. Small parts of Allenstown, Berserker, Koongal and Park Avenue are also flood prone.

Rockhampton Regional Council has floodmaps on its websites.

Projects of note on the south side are the Gracemere Industrial Area which recently commenced construction adjacent the Capricorn Highway, the proposed South Rockhampton Flood Levee which is proposed to protect Port Curtis and Depot Hill, and the Yeppen South bridge duplication.

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated

Does anyone know anything about the Lillypilly gardens development in gracemere?

Sounds extremely hyped up, numbers look too good to be true also.

Had one offered to me recently

My understanding is there are 3 developments (Lillypilly 1,2 &3)

Does anyone know much about them specifcally or the developers?

http://www.cqproperties.com.au/lilly-pilly-gardens/lilly-pilly-gardens-stage-2-q-a

Essentially they are:

2 Storey/3BR Townhouses
2.5 Bathroom
1 garage
$378K fully furnished or $358K unfurnished
$600 pw Rent fully furnished/ $480pw unfurnished

Given the info norwoodman just mentioned those rental figures are a pipe dream

Check out the latest Herron Todd White report which breaks the area into segments...

I'd be wary of buying in Gracemere in the short term, it has been heavily spruiked and oversupplied in a similar fashion to Gladstone in recent times.

Thanks for the info guys.

Will chk out HWT too

Hey Doober,

Can I just ask if you have actually purchased a Lilly Pilly property and if it is in stage 1 or 2 ? I have been approached to purchase 2 properties in stage 2 for 359K each unfurnished but after doing some research (as I am in Melbourne) it seems Gracemere may pick up in the future with a new bypass to Rocky but currently there are too many properties for sale and rental. Also the land size of 65sqm seems very small for an area where land is so cheap otherwise. I was told Gracemere can't expand anymore in any direction. Is this your experience ? They are willing to fly me up there to take a look.

Thanks.

Hey Tesla,

Pm'd you

Gracemere's high vacancy rate made the local paper today.

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/more-room-for-tenants-gracemere-rental-market/2100736/

The Yeppen South project was awarded during the week to John Holland, who will construct the 1.6km bridge and duplication of the Bruce Highway between the Yeppen Roundabout and Burnett Highway. Another big infrastructure project off the starting line for Rocky and Gracemere.

I have been approached to purchase 2 properties in Gracemere with guaranteed rent until I sign a 12 month tenant lease however after reading the HTW review for november I may just wait it out until Gladstone and Rocky pick up a bit.

Hi Tesla,

Guaranteed rent until you sign a tenant for 12mnths and what happens there after?

As the old saying goes 'it takes a sprat to catch a mackerel'

Cheers Spades.

Hello,

Well guaranteed until I sign a tenant but I am not so clear as to how long that guarantee is for if you know what I mean. I don't think they will pay me rent for a year if I don't have a tenant !

Your point is correct however. I am not sure what rents will be doing a year from now. As far as I can work out there are 5 estates selling house and land packages. City views, Chatterton Park, The meadows, Breeze and Lilly Pilly. It seems supply won't run out for a while. Do you know of the area ?

Tesla said:

I have been approached to purchase 2 properties in Gracemere with guaranteed rent until I sign a 12 month tenant lease however after reading the HTW review for november I may just wait it out until Gladstone and Rocky pick up a bit.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't bundle Gladstone and Rocky together. They may be 100km apart, but they are both quite different markets with different economies - even if some influences are similar.

Hello,

Is it true that people who work in Gladstone like to live in Rocky (including Gracemere) as it is a nicer place to live ? What industry does Rocky have compared to Gladstone ?

Thanks

Hi Tesla,

No i don't know the area,norwoodman would know more and he is cheap

Cheers Spades.

Tesla said:

Hello,

Is it true that people who work in Gladstone like to live in Rocky (including Gracemere) as it is a nicer place to live ? What industry does Rocky have compared to Gladstone ?

Thanks

Click to expand...

There were some commuters from Gracemere into Gladstone when the rental market in Gladstone was tight, but this seems to have eased given the drop off in the Gladstone rental market. The number of people doing this would not have been large. Most of Gracemere's population work in the Rockhampton region or at the mines in the Bowen Basin to the west.

Whether Rocky is nicer to live in than Gladstone is highly debatable. You'll find many people who disagree with that statement. Rockhampton has the infrastructure and bones of a major centre but presents as quite rough around the edges in some ways.

Rockhampton's economy is more diverse than Gladstone's. It is supported by government services (unofficially the capital of Central Queensland), health, education, retail, tourism, agriculture, some minerals processing, energy production and manufacturing. All of those sectors other than the last three have a much stronger presence in Rockhampton than Gladstone.

Norwoodman, do you regularly speak to property managers ? Were you looking to invest recently ? The person trying to sell me property in Gracemere is using REIQ data but the figures are from June 2013. I am assuming the Herron todd white figures are more accurate ?

Tesla said:

Norwoodman, do you regularly speak to property managers ? Were you looking to invest recently ? The person trying to sell me property in Gracemere is using REIQ data but the figures are from June 2013. I am assuming the Herron todd white figures are more accurate ?

Click to expand...

Tesla,

I do talk to property managers (and REAs as well for that matter) in the Rockhampton region, as I have one currently managing my investment property in Berserker (North Rockhampton, postcode 4701). I have recently renewed without change to the rent due to the softer rental market.

REIQ's data is a good reference point, but you do need to be aware that different agencies have different definitions for what areas are part of Rockhampton. HTW does a good job of differentiating the different parts of the region while REIQ is very general.

SQM Research lists the most recent vacancy rate in Gracemere (postcode 4702) at 8.7%, which is very high, even compared to other areas of Rockhampton.