International buyers swooping on forgotten Sydney suburb
A Sydney suburb that has been largely bypassed by local investors is attracting international attention, according to a real estate commentator.
CENTURY 21 Australasia’s chairman and founder, Charles Tarbey, said Wolli Creek, 10 kilometres south of Sydney’s CBD is a classic example of a suburb that has slipped under the radar for many Australian investors.
“We always talk about the suburbs 'in between'. These are suburbs that sit in between major suburbs, and you often don’t hear about them. It’s those suburbs that have exactly the same services and the same infrastructure that are the best places to go,” he said yesterday at a CENTURY 21 event in Sydney.
“You don’t hear about Wolli Creek. You hear about neighbouring Alexandria.”
Mr Tarbey said Wolli Creek is often overlooked because it is near an industrial area, borders railway tracks and a highway and is under Sydney Airport’s flight path. Investors, however, may be missing out.
“It’s a great suburb. There is infrastructure developing there. There are all these little shops and cafés starting to pop up. You can see it happening,” he said.
Mr Tarbey said property marketers and developers were targeting Chinese buyers and highlighting Wolli Creek’s investment potential. International buyers are increasingly making their presence felt in the suburb and buying properties off-the-plan, according to Mr Tarbey.
Wolli Creek’s development is mimicking that of Hurstville, he said.
“Nobody spoke about Hurstville. Everybody talked about your eastern suburbs – your Maroubras and so on – but I sat there and I thought ‘My God, this place is near the airport, it’s 20 minutes from the city, it’s got all the infrastructure, it’s got schools, it’s got main arterial roads in the area. What’s going on there?’
“You try and buy in Hurstville now. I wouldn’t go anywhere near it because you can’t get in there.”