Where in Melbourne should I look for affordable housing?

Question

I am thinking of renting first for a short period and then going for a mortgage. Which areas are the best for a first-time buyer? Closer to the city, Low crime rate, etc.

Hi Batako, yes I read your previous answer and the link you supplied, hence my concern about crime!
Thanks!

Answer 1

G'day,

I believe I answered your earlier question a few days ago.

If you are renting, then try to get in the area closer to your workplace.

I was looking around for affordable housing as well abt 4yrs ago and cannot find anything that I can have with our budget (abt $300k) in the East and Southeast. North is affordable, but the access to city is not very good, since there are no freeway/highway connecting the areas.

I am now living in Point Cook, which is only abt 20min drive west from city via Westgate Freeway / Princess Highway. There are plenty of newly built housing estates being opened. It is very affordable for my budget, since I could buy a house and land for only $300k (the land is 700m2). The facilities are being built to cater for young families, but also convenient for older couples as well. In regards to crime rate, I guess you can checked my earlier answer as well to your earlier question, where I included a link in The Age newspaper website abt the crime rate in Melbourne. They are quite standard.

The first answerer mentioned that west is not very safe... true in some suburbs such as Footscray, Brooklyn, Sunshine and Yarravile. However those suburbs are in a very close distance to the industrial area. Not Point Cook, since it is located further from the heavily industrialised area.

I am attaching some real estate websites where you can find informations about estates in the West as well for your reference.

Good luck!

Answer 2

obviously the closer to the city you go the more expensive ppty is....if you head out west the cheaper areas for ppty would be melton, st albans, deer park....or north would be mill park, epping......crime rates are resonable in any suburb....but what makes the difference is the type of people that live in the area....i would recommend north more than west......