Empty Nesters Flock To Inner City

Babyboomers whose children have left home, commonly known as "empty-nesters" are buying inner city apartments in record numbers.

Director of Acton Special Projects, Marc Drexel says the trend is towards quality rather than mass developments.

"The empty-nest market is growing and expanding with people wanting to reward themselves with a quality lifestyle property".

Typically this group of buyers is seeking 2 big bedrooms, rather than 3 small ones with generous open plan living areas. These developments often include lifestyle features such as a gym, coffee shop, resident caretaker and even a rooftop library!

Drexel says Acton has 15 different developments under way at the moment worth in excess of $500 million with prices for individual apartments ranging from the low $200,000 mark to over a million dollars.

"The major inner city renewal has spurred the market on," he said.

With this growth many investors are also speculating by purchasing "off the plan". A 2.5 % depreciation against the structural cost of the building is an incentive and savings can be increased to between 5 and 10 % through discounts offered by the developer.

But Drexel also warns "be careful, selective and look for a point of difference, something unique such as location or architectural integrity so it stands out from other projects".

Drexel believes negative gearing is no longer popular with a new trend towards "neutral gearing".

This trend is supported by Trevor Hoddy a partner with West Perth accountants, HLB Mann Judd.

"We don't see at lot of negative gearing compared to five years ago and we're seeing more a move into managed funds, such as property trusts, where there is greater liquidity and less risk."

He says the reason for this is low inflation, generating poor capital growth and soft rental returns.

When considering investing into property consider these 10 Tips

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.

You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com.