Earlier this week, one of our clients asked me a great question… “How much value do you put in a suburb name?”

It’s an interesting discussion that can attract a wide variety of opinions.

I’ve seen numerous instances where the residents of a particular pocket within a suburb have rallied to have the boundary changed, thus placing them in a different suburb.

I remember a time around 17 years ago when the residents in a pocket of Albion sought to have their location changed to Ascot…and the residents of Ascot where concerned that this may affect the values of their properties and fought back to keep the boundaries unchanged. (Footnote – Albion residents defeated Ascot residents at the time).

We saw a similar occurrence shortly after in the ‘One Mile’ estate in Lawnton where the residents of the time successfully changed their pocket to Joyner…and there’s other areas in the general metropolitan area of Brisbane where the same thing has occurred.

So, is the suburb name such a huge deal these days?

In my opinion, no it isn’t!

Over the years, I’ve noticed a decrease in the number of buyers that are particularly ‘hung up’ on what suburb they actually live in, with many buyers today logically choosing a home based on its’ position, aesthetics and individual features.

The only common exception we see to this statement occurs when parents are required to reside in a particular area for school catchment reasons but other than this, I truly believe that the suburb name means less now than ever before.

I remember growing up in Everton Hills which wasn’t necessarily considered to be an area of any great esteem…but many people seemed to be proud to live in the suburb next door of Bridgeman Downs.

The price difference between the two suburbs was enormous and even the neighbouring suburb of McDowall was once considered to be the ‘poor cousin’ of Bridgeman Downs.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the median house price in Everton Hills skyrocket and McDowall is now also a very tightly held suburb…whilst the median price in Bridgeman Downs has dropped…for the sole reason that there’s been a huge number of new housing estates that have popped up where the block sizes are much smaller.

Suburbs like Strathpine and Bray Park (that were once considered to be lower socio-economic areas) and now filled with solid hardwood framed homes, many of them beautifully renovated with very upmarket fittings and finishes and median house prices still moving forwards – buyers are now recognizing the value in being so close to quality schools, ample shops, arterial roads, buses and trains…and still a relative stone’s throw from the CBD given the median price point.

In fact, we’ve seen some buyers particularly avoid higher end suburbs as they feel that the suburb name brings an increase in value…an increase that they are not prepared to pay for!

If you own a property, you should have recently received a written notice from the Council indicating what they value your land to be as at June 30 this year.

I’ve noticed (in Moreton Bay Regional Council and Brisbane City Council) that most of the land values have increased by approximately 10% on what they were last year.

From suburb to suburb, I can assure you that the Council land values don’t usually differ significantly between neighbouring suburbs and this adds weight to the theory that the suburb name isn’t as important as it once was.

Speaking of increased land values, it’s a great tool for agents to use as a leveraging mechanism to persuade buyers to increase their offer (I’m surprised how many agents don’t use this valuable piece of information to their advantage when negotiating with buyers) but the truth is that an increase of 10% on your land value doesn’t automatically mean that your home has increased in value by 10% once the new financial year ticks over.

As you’re probably aware, the Council land value bears a direct correlation with how much you’re charged for your rates so it is fair to assume that your rates may increase by a similar margin as we head into July.

But when you’re selling, the Council land value can play a very important part in assisting to achieve a premium price and in my opinion, this number is far more important than the name of the suburb that you reside in.

Until next week, Happy Listing & Happy Selling!