Thursday, 10 December 2009

Are Apartments Worthwhile Investments?

By Jeff Royle

Renting out houses make good financial sense over the long term (house prices tend to double in value every 8 to 10 years) but what about Apartments?

Initially, you have to ask yourself, what am I investing for? Is it long term capital growth or short term income from rentals? Usually, older individuals invest for short term income rather than long term for obvious reasons!

Apartments usually aren't excellent capital growth investments as historically, property prices have in fact reflected the cost of land and as an Apartment owner; this land price is not reflected in the cost of the unit itself. Developers are using all sorts of tricks to sell apartments currently as well as 'rent guarantees'. It is also important to think about what happens after the rent assurance runs out and the figures don't add up. Also will the person offering the guarantee still be in business to honour it? Most Real Estate agents know that these guarantees are a marketing ploy and tend to reflect the weakness in the Apartment market as a whole. (why propose something when you do not need to?)

Also, think about the mortgage financing for Apartments, it is tricky with most Banks not going over 60 or 65%. This might be OK for you, but think about your potential buyer a few years down the track?

Apart from not owning the land, another factor is the potential over supply. Developers can easily put up a block of new Apartments, quickly and therefore further diluting the potential market. Old rule of supply and demand kicks in and as an individual you have very little control over it.

The above coupled with high Body Corp fee's and maintenance issues means Apartment buyers need to think twice before making the move. In terms of rental return I would say around 7% warrants a house purchase but nearer 10% is needed for Apartments.

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