Aranda and Cook: Practically the inner north, right?

Residents of Aranda and Cook often feel just as aligned with Canberra’s inner north as they do the Belconnen region.

If centrality and rising house prices are anything to go by, it’s easy to see why. Aside from the division a towering Black Mountain creates between the two regions, of course.

Two successful shopping precincts are among the drawcards to this pocket of Belconnen.

The Aranda shops will quench your thirst, whether it’s for coffee at Two Before Ten (the sister cafe to the city hotspot of the same name), cider from 3 Sons Cider or another type of poison at Bolt Bar.

You can even get your homewares fix from the very pretty Meet Gather Collect.

Over in Cook, popular cafe Little Oink is among an array of local shops.

If there was ever a show of Canberra hospitality it was a couple of years ago among the wave of support that flooded the popular brunch spot after the business was broken into twice in three days.

Many prospective buyers are drawn to properties on the southern fringes of Cook and Aranda, where there’s a feeling of living a million miles away from the nation’s capital when, in actual fact, you’re a 10-or-so-minute drive from the city.

It’s largely thanks to surrounding green space, including Mount Painter Nature Reserve and Aranda Bushland Nature Reserve, and the Brindabellas on the horizon.

The region also boasts schools and sporting fields.

In the event of an emergency, the Belconnen Ambulance and Fire and Rescue Station is conveniently close by in north-western Aranda.

Caught without a watch or phone? Lucky for you, Cook is home to a vertical sundial.

Aranda and Cook are characterised by strong property prices, with both suburb records smashed in 2016.

Aranda’s median house price sits at $847,500, according to Allhomes data. The suburb’s median unit price is $895,000.

Cook’s median house price is $880,500, while its median unit price is $532,000.

What draws prospective buyers to the two suburbs?

Ray White Real Estate Belconnen sales agent Andrew Lonsdale – who sold Aranda’s record-breaking property at 38 Mirning Crescent for $1.4 million – says there has been “huge demand…for great family homes” in Aranda and Cook.

“People who grew up in the suburbs want to come back here,” he says.

“For me, it’s a bit like Curtin; it’s just so central to everything.”

Lonsdale says nearby Radford College and popular hospitality venues are among the drawcards, alongside “some of the best bushland reserves in Canberra”.

There’s also a strong sense of community.

“Aranda and Cook are the sorts of places where you meet the neighbours,” he says.

Cook’s residential sales record was also broken last year with the sale of 33 Cambridge Street for $1,365,000.

Peter Blackshaw Real Estate Belconnen principal and sales agent Peter Walker, who sold the property, says Cook’s bustling shops and bushland appeal to buyers.

He says Aranda is “the strongest, most stable suburb in Belconnen”.

“A lot of people who can’t afford to live in the inner north live in Aranda,” he says.

Aranda and Cook’s proximity to the Gungahlin Drive Extension, but without the through-traffic, was another drawcard.

Walker says there’s also a greater willingness among prospective buyers to tackle a knockdown-rebuild in the two suburbs thanks to larger blocks.

Keep an eye out for more Allhomes suburb profiles.