How much does it cost to live in Australia's coolest suburbs?
It’s official: some of the coolest suburbs in the world are in Australia.
Time Out magazine has released its annual list of the “Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World”, and four Australian suburbs have made the cut out of 38: Chippendale in Sydney, Windsor in Melbourne, Northbridge in Perth, and Norwood in Adelaide.
The magazine editors vetted neighbourhoods worldwide for their food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour.
These suburbs may be cool – but are they affordable? Or does the life aspired to by Time Out magazine come at a cost? Domain has taken a dive into the data to find out how much you’ll pay.
How much it costs to live in Chippendale, Sydney
At the edge of Sydney’s CBD is the world’s seventh coolest suburb: Chippendale. People tend to overlook this suburb in favour of its more famous neighbour, Surry Hills, but Surry Hills didn’t even make it to the list.
Chippendale was an industrial area that transformed into a cool residential area, says local agent Teng Li of Obsidian Property.
“Everything is modern, and the design of the buildings is quite forward-thinking,” he says.
While most of the suburb’s population are university students, Li says there are many first-home buyers and young professionals living in Chippendale, all drawn to its arts scene and great restaurants.
“Some of the properties, like studios, are relatively cheap. They’re around $500,000 to $600,000, which is a good starting point for some buyers,” says Li.
In Chippendale, the median unit price is $850,000 ($70,000 cheaper than Surry Hills), and the median weekly rent is $1095 for a house or $820 for an apartment, according to Domain data.
Li says Chippendale’s mix of modern apartment buildings and older Victorian and Edwardian-style homes gives the suburb a unique edge to its remarkable cultural heritage.
For example, older brick-style buildings surround the strange University of Technology Sydney “paper bag” building.
“It’s a pretty cool place,” says Li.
How much it costs to live in Windsor, Melbourne
Considered the grungier sibling of Prahran and South Yarra, Windsor is often overlooked by tourists and locals despite its ranking as the 10th coolest neighbourhood in the world.
“It’s just got the most eclectic mix of people, interests and ideas … it’s the place to be,” says local agent James Paull of Kay & Burton Stonnington.
“You will find a broad and diverse range of Melbourne’s demographics in the suburbs. If you go along Chapel Street in Windsor, the restaurant and cafe scene is world-class. On the other side of that, when you get to the homes, there are heritage homes, and there are modern builds.”
While Windsor is predominantly known for its younger demographic, Paull says there has been a recent shift towards the family market.
“Your Windsor buyer is typically either a professional couple, or a young family having one or two kids, or really your first-home-buyer market, given there’s a lot of old-school cottages in parts of Windsor that are somewhat affordable for the first-home buyer market,” he says.
The median price for a house in Windsor is $1.505 million, while units have a median of $525,000. However, it’s not necessary to buy to live in one of the world’s coolest suburbs. The median weekly rent for a house is $800 and $520 for a unit, according to the latest Domain Rent Report.
“The properties [in Windsor] are the best,” says Paull. “You get a good blend of heritage homes with a lot of lovely period-style Victorian homes and Edwardian homes.”
“You can find some single-fronted properties that start at the low $1 million mark, but they can go up to $4 million or $5 million for the top-end stuff in the suburb.
“[For apartment buildings], a small one-bedroom apartment in Windsor starts at $400,000. I’ve been involved in an apartment sale in Windsor up to mid-three million [dollars]. So, a pretty broad range.”
How much it costs to live in Northbridge, Perth
Northbridge is the city’s nightlife district and most culturally diverse food destination, earning it 21st place in the coolest suburb ranking.
“The vibrancy and mix of the dining in Chinatown, nightlife, its open spaces – there are a lot of parks – access to public transport in and out of the city without having to pass through the CBD, makes it a cool place,” says local agent Rob Stefanovski of Limnios Property Group.
“Northbridge could be considered [Sydney’s] Kings Cross of Perth,” he says.
Unlike other suburbs, Northbridge has a limited number of properties available. The majority of them are apartments because it’s a small area within Perth, says Stefanovski.
“If you look at the property values and the demographic of Kings Cross, the demographic is somewhat similar, but the values in terms of what you get for your dollar in Northbridge are completely different. I think [prices are] 40 per cent less than what you’d be paying in Kings Cross.
“A one-bedroom apartment on average is in the mid-$400,000s. Two-bedroom apartments would be certainly in the mid-to-high $500,000, and the three-bedroom apartments are upwards from the mid-to-high $600,000,” he says.
In Northbridge, the median weekly rent is $660 for a house or $650 for an apartment, according to the Domain Rent Report.
With the completion of the Edith Cowan University campus in the suburb, Stefanovski believes there will be more people and foot traffic coming into the area, which will change and evolve Northbridge in the next three to five years.
How much it costs to live in Norwood, Adelaide
Norwood in Adelaide is well-known for its Italian influence and The Parade, which is home to stylish boutiques and diverse galleries, and most likely the reason it ranked 35 on the list.
“It’s a cosmopolitan prestige but with a high-density twist,” says local agent Stephanie Williams of Williams Real Estate. “You’re surrounded by beautiful homes with stunning architecture.
“There’s a really nice promenade that surrounds the area. It is higher-density living. So you do have blocks that are smaller and developed, and apartments have just gone into The Parade North side, and there’s talk of a tram going from The Parade into the CBD,” she says.
The median house price in Norwood is $1,137,500, while the median unit price is $590,000. Meanwhile, the median weekly rent for a house is $690 and $535 for a unit, according to Domain’s Rent Report.
“It attracts that young demographic because you can walk into the universities and the CBD. Then, for the more mature generations, there are some smaller blocks where they can have a low-maintenance lifestyle as well. You can walk to everything there.”
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