Newport’s Surge in Popularity

Identified from afar by the power stack on the horizon, characterised by a great community, and boasting some beautiful period houses, Newport has been one of the inner-west’s sleepy little performers.

Locals love their suburb for many reasons, and new visitors to the area are starting to see what the fuss is about. A blog site aptly quotes Newport as ‘less snooty than Williamstown, not as hipster as Yarraville”, and as a buyer’s advocate in the area, I can cite all of the fundamentals that draw home-finders and investors to Newport.

Firstly, Newport has bigger blocks surrounding it’s busy village streets (Hall and Mason Sts) than either Yarraville or Seddon offer. While there are certainly a good share of single-fronted little cottages on sub-200 sqm blocks, the vast majority of houses in Newport are in fact not little. Family buyers who have given up hope of finding a 4BR house in Yarraville and Seddon within their budget have found success by turning their search towards this fantastic suburb just two train stops down the track.

Secondly, Newport offers a good number of townhouses boasting strong rental returns (by Melbourne standards), and tenants enjoy the ease of commute, whether it be by car where they have easy access to the Westgate Bridge, or by rail, where Newport is a hub station and during peak commute times, is just a mere three stops to Southern Cross Station.

The beautiful Newport Lakes; manmade recreational lakes which were adapted from an old bluestone quarry and tip are the ‘Lakes’ are a favourite location of mine, whether it be for a brisk few laps in the morning, or a great picnic with friends on a sunny day. The Substation in the heart of the village is a beautiful old building offering an amazing venue for special events, art exhibitions, and the famous Substation farmers market or Artist’s market.

A glass of wine at the Junction Hotel’s Wine Room is a special treat, and great live music on the weekends make this a popular haunt for locals.

But it’s Newport’s wonderful sense of community that makes this suburb a great place to live.

Yesterday was just one more day which reinforced this exciting patch’s outperformance growth. 31 Milford St went to auction at 2pm and as described by the agents, this two bedroom character house with hints of art deco and beautiful style drew a strong crowd. Offering 470 sqm of land meant that this property could potentially be extended and our hopeful buyers weren’t the only ones who hoped to create a family dream out of the property with a clever extension.

Purchased just two year ago for $795,000, yesterday’s result of $1,030,000 meant that this house has performed at a capital growth rate of 13% per year over the last two years… no small feat.

Commiserations to our wonderful buyers and congratulations to the winners…