Show notes – How Proximity to the CBD Across 10km Rings Impact Property Yields, Contrasting Houses vs. Units & the Regions (Ep. 272)

This week our topic comes from a research report commissioned by Mike’s business MCG Quantity Surveyors, and it focussed on how yields change per city as distance from the centre of the town or CBD increases, so there’s a lot to unpack here. We often hear people quoting about buying within say 10, 20 or 30kms from the CBD, but Dave unpacks the factors that also need to be taken into account with this consideration, and Cate questions whether commute times are the more important measure.

But how do units and house metrics differ when it comes to distance from CBD?

Rental yields are one interesting metric that MCG’s study has focused on in each capital city. There is one city that bucks the trend… and it’s Melbourne. Melbourne’s unit rental yields decrease as the distance from CBD increases.

What is driving this? Could it be buyer attitudes towards outer ring locations? Is infrastructure the problem? Or is Melbourne’s landscape physically different? Tune in to find out.

Affordable and aspirational are two very different drivers. Cate and Dave ponder how our urban make up differs around our capital cities. In particular, Dave cites some interesting student population statistics.

The results may surprise our listeners!

Regional areas were also canvased in the study and some of the drivers for double-digit yields are explained by Mike, and he cautions those investors who target rental yields without understanding the other aspects of investment strategy and asset selection. The Trio take a trip around Australia and uncover some of the highest rental yields across the nation.

Cate and Dave agree on the importance of looking beyond the rental yields. Conducting thorough due diligence is essential for any investment area.

“The study has essentially confirmed our thoughts that regions are higher yielding than cities and the super-yields are often associated with mining and the like. So getting back to these concentric rings of distance from the CBD. What do we think the strengths and weaknesses of an arbitrary division like that is for investors?”

The Trio loved bringing this episode to life and MCG Quantity Surveying have provided the report for listeners to access. We’ve saved it in our show notes and we hope our listeners enjoy digesting it.

Gold Nuggets:

Cate Bakos’s gold nugget: It’s integral for investors to know what their purpose is for investing. Different life stages and different retirement strategies could shine a spotlight on yield.

David Johnston’s gold nugget: “That’s a great one Cate. I might just double down on that!”

Mike Mortlock’s gold nugget: Mike likes the fact that they took a metric that is often used, and demonstrated that research is not always valuable to investors. Yield is not everything, it’s just one part of the puzzle.