Suburb Snapshot - Padbury, WA

Padbury is an established suburb located approximately 18km north of the Perth CBD.

It is well positioned, being west of the Mitchell Freeway, a 5 minute drive to the beach, and approximately a 20 minute drive into the city in non-peak hours. It has superb access to a range of amenities including the freeway, train station, bus routes, a major shopping centre, parks and nature reserves, Hillary’s boat harbour, three primary schools and one high school. Yet, it is more affordable than some of its close neighbours such as Hillarys and Duncraig.

The suburb was developed around the mid 1970’s with most homes being built around that time or the early 1980’s. Housing stock consists of mostly older homes, often 3x1’s, on large 700sqm blocks. Some properties have duplex or triplex potential, with more set to benefit from future subdivision with the City of Joondalup’s proposed rezoning plan in coming years. The face of Padbury is also slowly changing with properties starting to reach the age where owners are choosing to begin renovating. Generally, most properties on the market tend to be ripe for renovation and/or development offering investors plenty of opportunity to add instant value.

The suburb does have some distinct areas with the south-eastern part of the suburb, known as ‘Hepburn Heights’, housing newer homes built in the 1990’s, and along the east side of Gibson Avenue, a slightly more desirable pocket known as Pinnaroo Heights. Prices in Padbury start at around $350,000 for a villa and $440,000 for a house, and expect to pay in the $600,000’s with some larger renovated properties and properties in the newer estate. Traditionally Padbury has been a solid performer and has continued to perform well even through the difficult market of the past year. Its expected growth should return in the next 12 months.

Padbury is seen as a desirable and affordable family-orientated suburb, mostly made up of owner-occupiers who stay put in the suburb for long periods of time. It tends to be a suburb where demand consistently exceeds supply and houses sell quicker than the norm. There is usually also a shortage of rentals in the area meaning rents tend to be quite favourable for investors and vacancy periods minimal. Rents at this point in time typically fetch between $350-$450 a week depending on the specifications of the property.

Key Statistics

Source: REIWA.com.au, January 2011.