Hiya,

Has anyone got any views/comments on the Knox or Glen Waverley areas?
Just trying to get an idea of where's good and where's not!

Krissy

Krissy

Knox is a shire rather than a suburb of Melbourne. There is a new suburb called Knoxfield which is further out than Glen Waverley. The median house price in GW is $412K, Mount Waverley is closer to the CBD and mhp is $397K (older area so houses not quite as new, large etc as GW). This puts both 'burbs over the all Melbourne average so from this viewpoint they are quite desirable areas. Glen Waverley is at the end of the railway line (not surprisingly called the GW line) and is probably about 30 minutes commuting time from CBD. If you watch Neighbours at all you'll get a good idea of GW - it is filmed in the suburb a mile or so to the north called Vermont South and the type of housing, streets, schools etc is similar.

So, I personally would say it is a 'pretty good' suburb- there's a lot better and a lot worse purely judged by property prices, environment, schools, public transport etc.

OzTennis

Krissy

I just saw that you come from Lytham St Annes. We spent a very pleasant week there in October. It was actually in St Annes - some holiday flats in the main road to Lytham, about half a mile from the main shopping street at St Annes.

OzTennis

Hiya,

Don't tell me I have to watch Neighbours!!! (fate worse than death, surely?!)
Seriously....thank you very much for your help. Glad to hear that you had a nice time while you were in sunny (ahem!) Lytham St Annes. It is a lovely place and I have lived here all my life however it's time for a change and if we get to Oz (everything crossed!) I reckon we will have a better way of life.
We aren't going into it with unrealistic goals, we know it will be hard at first, but if you embrace that and remember why you did it in the first place I am sure we will survive.
So, the waiting and searching starts now!

If things go to plan and we get the thumbs up from the TRA and for State Nomination does anyone know how long, on average this takes? I have had a look at austimeline and it seems encouraging. Knowing our luck our application will be at the bottom of a very big pile!

Kris

[QUOTE]Originally posted by OzTennis
Krissy

Knox is a shire rather than a suburb of Melbourne. There is a new suburb called Knoxfield which is further out than Glen Waverley. The median house price in GW is $412K, Mount Waverley is closer to the CBD and mhp is $397K (older area so houses not quite as new, large etc as GW). This puts both 'burbs over the all Melbourne average so from this viewpoint they are quite desirable areas. Glen Waverley is at the end of the railway line (not surprisingly called the GW line) and is probably about 30 minutes commuting time from CBD. If you watch Neighbours at all you'll get a good idea of GW - it is filmed in the suburb a mile or so to the north called Vermont South and the type of housing, streets, schools etc is similar.

So, I personally would say it is a 'pretty good' suburb- there's a lot better and a lot worse purely judged by property prices, environment, schools, public transport etc.

Hi

We spent a month in Melbourne and actually in stayed in Glen Waverlely.

There's a really excellent Vietnamese restaurant near to Dan Murphy's Liquor Store and the railway station (a little pricey but well worth it). We also found a Chinese restuarant which was filled with Chinese people at 2 in the morning and the food there was really good - so don't worry about going hungry.

As Oztennis mentioned GW's at the end of the commuter line which maybe inflates house prices as there is a substantial drop even moving a few kms out. Areas slightly further not necessary bad - just not so desirable for the many commuters living there.

Not wanting to put you off in anyway, but we found the main road leading to the M1 was absolutely chocka in the mornings and evenings. M1 not particularly bad compared with the UK but seems a lot of people park and ride in GW.

If you don't mind travelling a bit further, the area around Berwick looked really nice and just down the road from some great countryside. As with anywhere in the world, I think you still have to check out the areas fully though.

Don't know if you've heard this before, but I would definitely recommend staying somewhere near a tram link when you first arrive as they are so excellent (They nearly go out to GW but not quite)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by krissy

Kris

If you think Neighbours is bad, what do you think I feel about watching East Enders or Coronation Street et al!! As I said we really enjoyed Lytham St Annes and how different is it to Blackpool??

If it is of use to you or anyone else I'll paste in the latest median house prices by suburb. Sorry about the amount of detail but I've lost the link to the web page I got it from:

What your house is worth?

10nov03

HOW your house has changed in value from September 2002 to September 2003, based on sales recorded in each quarter by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
Figures quoted are median prices.

Suburb Sept 2003 Sept 2002 % change

Abbotsford* $440,000 $353,000 24.6
Airport West* $327,125 $276,500 18.3
Albert Park* $650,000 $630,000 3.2
Alphington* $551,500 $460,050 19.9
Altona $350,000 $312,000 12.2
Altona Meadows $260,000 $212,875 22.1
Altona North* $281,500 $270,000 4.3
Ardeer* $224,500 $199,000 12.8
Armadale* $702,000 $684,000 2.6
Ascot Vale $450,000 $368,000 22.3
Ashburton $560,000 $478,750 17.0
Ashwood* $415,600 $376,000 10.5
Aspendale* $410,500 - -
Avondale Heights $328,000 $287,000 14.3
Bacchus Marsh* $290,000 - -
Ballarat $196,500 $162,500 20.9
Balwyn $752,500 $637,000 18.1
Balwyn North $611,000 $531,000 15.1
Bayswater North* $279,250 $230,000 21.4
Bayswater* $245,000 $215,000 14.0
Beaumaris $641,000 $547,000 17.2
Belgrave* $225,000 $198,000 13.6
Bendigo $212,000 $156,500 35.5
Bentleigh $457,000 $435,000 5.1
Bentleigh East $394,500 $354,000 11.4
Berwick* $260,000 $257,000 1.2
Black Rock* $684,000 $655,000 4.4
Blackburn $420,000 $375,000 12.0
Blackburn North $325,000 $335,000 -3.0
Blackburn South $363,500 $293,000 24.1
Boronia* $246,000 $215,500 14.2
Box Hill North $395,000 $338,750 16.6
Box Hill South* $405,000 $350,000 15.7
Box Hill* $479,000 $440,000 8.9
Braybrook* $262,250 $209,500 25.2
Brighton $987,500 $753,500 31.1
Brighton East $656,000 $537,000 22.2
Broadmeadows $204,500 $168,250 21.5
Brunswick $403,000 $352,000 14.5
Brunswick East $401,000 $350,000 14.6
Brunswick West $453,000 $355,500 27.4
Bulleen* $424,000 $361,000 17.5
Bundoora* $295,000 $251,500 17.3
Burwood $450,000 $380,000 18.4
Burwood East* $361,000 $310,000 16.5
Cambellfield* $230,000 $198,500 15.9
Camberwell $702,000 $589,000 19.2
Canterbury $1.01m $897,500 12.5
Carlton* $608,000 $512,000 18.8
Carlton North* $565,500 $449,000 25.9
Carnegie $488,250 $449,000 8.7
Caroline Springs* $302,500 - -
Caulfield North $792,000 $525,000 50.9
Caulfield South $635,000 $605,000 5.0
Caulfield* $740,000 $485,000 52.6
Chadstone* $351,500 $315,000 11.6
Chelsea* $398,750 - -
Cheltenham $375,000 $334,250 12.2
Chirnside Park $283,000 $229,000 23.6
Clarinda* $302,500 - -
Clayton South* $320,000 $251,000 27.5
Clayton* $340,500 $285,000 19.5
Clifton Hill $517,750 $489,000 5.9
Coburg $375,000 $313,500 19.6
Coburg North* $302,000 $299,875 0.7
Collingwood* $371,125 $363,750 2.0
Craigieburn $208,500 $196,000 6.4
Croydon $276,750 $231,700 19.4
Croydon Hills* $329,750 $301,975 9.2
Croydon North* $298,000 $240,000 24.2
Dallas* $183,000 $180,000 1.7
Dandenong Nth* $271,000 $190,000 42.6
Dandenong* $250,000 $160,500 55.8
Deer Park $200,000 $201,500 -0.7
Delahey $233,000 $215,000 8.4
Diamond Creek* $341,025 $285,000 19.7
Dingley Village $338,750 $270,000 25.5
Doncaster $438,000 $391,000 12.0
Doncaster East $422,250 $365,000 15.7
Donvale $533,580 $400,000 33.4
Eaglemont* $752,000 $658,500 14.2
East Melbourne* $800,000 $1.05m -23.8
Elsternwick* $746,500 $525,000 42.2
Eltham $435,000 $359,650 21.0
Elwood* $770,000 $660,500 16.6
Endeavour Hills* $240,000 $209,500 14.6
Epping $253,500 $220,000 15.2
Essendon $592,000 $481,500 22.9
Essendon North* $467,500 $379,500 23.2
Fairfield $476,500 $405,000 17.7
Fawkner* $270,000 $257,125 5.0
Ferntree Gully * $243,500 $209,500 16.2
Fitzroy $570,500 $458,500 24.4
Fitzroy North $501,000 $456,000 9.9
Flemington* $401,375 $364,000 10.3
Footscray $340,000 $274,500 23.9
Footscray West $315,000 $325,750 -3.3
Forest Hill $328,000 $286,500 14.5
Frankston $265,500 $190,400 39.4
Geelong $268,000 $185,000 44.9
Gisborne* $340,000 $231,250 47.0
Gladstone Park $269,500 $230,000 17.2
Glen Iris $690,000 $596,000 15.8
Glen Waverley $412,000 $360,500 14.3
Glenhuntly* $425,000 $335,750 26.6
Glenroy $284,125 $250,000 13.7
Greensborough $314,000 $295,000 6.4
Greenvale* $427,500 $385,000 11.0
Hampton $605,000 $511,000 18.4
Hampton East* $426,000 $380,000 12.1
Hawthorn $734,000 $670,750 9.4
Hawthorn East $710,000 $582,500 21.9
Healesville* $207,500 $185,000 12.2
Heatherton $426,250 $335,000 27.2
Heathmont* $353,000 $295,000 19.7
Heidelberg $524,000 $398,000 31.7
Heidelberg Hts* $370,000 $285,000 29.8
Heidelberg West* $287,500 $239,000 20.3
Highett $465,000 $355,000 31.0
Hillside* $276,000 $250,000 10.4
Hoppers Crossing $212,250 $208,500 1.8
Hughesdale* $455,500 - -
Hurstbridge* $261,250 $260,000 0.5
Ivanhoe $583,000 $470,500 23.9
Ivanhoe East* $780,000 $565,000 38.1
Kealba* $210,000 $219,000 -4.1
Keilor Downs* $265,000 $262,500 1.0
Keilor East $336,500 $280,000 20.2
Keilor Park* $310,000 $224,000 38.4
Keilor* $358,000 $355,250 0.8
Kensington $370,000 $358,500 3.2
Kew $790,000 $680,000 16.2
Kew East* $640,000 $523,500 22.3
Keysborough* $214,306 $234,000 -8.4
Kilsyth* $250,000 $239,000 4.6
Kingsbury* $298,250 $236,500 26.1
Kingsville* $366,000 $323,000 13.3
Lalor $232,250 $198,000 17.3
Laverton* $172,000 $168,750 1.9
Lilydale* $280,050 $268,500 4.3
Lower Plenty* $510,000 $380,000 34.2
Lysterfield* $397,000 $352,000 12.8
Macleod $327,000 $276,500 18.3
Maidstone $293,000 $260,500 12.5
Malvern $729,000 $625,000 16.6
Malvern East $632,500 $549,000 15.2
Maribyrnong $450,000 $371,000 21.3
McKinnon* $500,750 $464,000 7.9
Meadow Heights $223,500 $190,000 17.6
Melton South* $155,000 $155,000 0.0
Mentone* $548,750 $410,500 33.7
Middle Park* $790,000 $634,500 24.5
Mill Park $275,000 $238,500 15.3
Mitcham $343,000 $286,200 19.8
Mont Albert Nth* $480,000 $401,000 19.7
Mont Albert* $650,000 $460,000 41.3
Montmorency $335,000 $287,850 16.4
Montrose* $300,000 $250,000 20.0
Moonee Ponds $472,500 $440,250 7.3
Moorabbin* $371,000 $392,500 -5.5
Mooroolbark $249,950 $219,500 13.9
Mordialloc* $425,000 $400,000 6.3
Mornington* $467,000 $347,000 34.6
Mount Waverley $397,500 $349,000 13.9
Mt Eliza* $560,000 $348,000 60.9
Mt Evelyn* $270,000 $190,000 42.1
Mt Martha* $599,000 - -
Mulgrave* $309,000 $276,000 12.0
Murrumbeena* $451,000 $382,500 17.9
Narree Warren* $290,000 $196,000 48.0
New Gisborne* $372,000 $269,500 38.0
Newport $380,000 $350,000 8.6
Niddrie* $391,000 $341,500 14.5
Noble Park* $232,500 $195,000 19.2
North Melbourne* $400,000 $370,000 8.1
Northcote $448,250 $384,000 16.7
Nunawading $312,875 $293,250 6.7
Oak Park* $356,000 $311,000 14.5
Oakleigh $413,500 $347,375 19.0
Oakleigh East* $349,500 $318,000 9.9
Oakleigh South* $328,500 $292,644 12.3
Ormond* $528,000 $420,000 25.7
Park Orchards* $550,000 $520,000 5.8
Parkdale* $455,000 $365,000 24.7
Parkville* $990,000 $775,000 27.7
Pascoe Vale $377,750 $329,500 14.6
Pascoe Vale Sth $390,000 $310,000 25.8
Point Cook* $318,000 - -
Port Melbourne $571,000 $490,000 16.5
Prahran $505,601 $473,750 6.7
Preston $335,000 $305,250 9.7
Preston West* $360,000 $356,000 1.1
Reservoir $300,000 $265,000 13.2
Richmond $463,000 $440,250 5.2
Ringwood East* $338,000 $242,000 39.7
Ringwood North* $475,000 $320,000 48.4
Ringwood* $291,050 $235,000 23.9
Rosanna* $400,000 $438,500 -8.8
Rowville $345,000 $297,500 16.0
Roxburgh Park $247,000 $227,000 8.8
Sanctuary Lakes* $550,000 - -
Sandringham $722,000 $556,000 29.9
Seabrook* $280,000 $250,000 12.0
Seaford* $271,500 $229,975 18.1
Seddon* $377,500 - -
Sth Melbourne* $556,500 $474,250 17.3
South Morang* $330,000 - -
South Yarra $700,000 $740,000 -5.4
Spotswood* $343,000 $341,500 0.4
Springvale Sth* $258,000 $200,000 29.0
Springvale* $227,861 - -
St Albans $225,000 $187,500 20.0
St Albans East* $226,000 $194,500 16.2
St Kilda * $545,000 $530,250 2.8
St Kilda East $508,000 $450,000 12.9
Strathmore* $456,000 $453,750 0.5
Sunbury $238,000 $205,000 16.1
Sunshine $255,000 $216,000 18.1
Sunshine North $250,500 $229,000 9.4
Sunshine West $240,000 $200,500 19.7
Surrey Hills $632,500 $622,500 1.6
Sydenham $256,000 $238,000 7.6
Taylors Lakes $336,250 $318,500 5.6
Templestowe $560,000 $461,000 21.5
Templestowe Lwr $415,000 $370,800 11.9
The Basin* $239,500 $232,000 3.2
Thomastown $247,000 $200,500 23.2
Thornbury $425,500 $350,000 21.6
Toorak $1.7mill $1.2mill 41.7
Tullamarine $251,000 $235,000 6.8
Upwey* $242,000 $223,250 8.4
Vermont $335,600 $320,000 4.9
Vermont South $390,000 $345,000 13.0
Viewbank* $390,000 $317,500 22.8
Wantirna South* $320,000 $293,000 9.2
Wantirna* $286,250 $275,500 3.9
Warrandyte* $630,000 $346,500 81.8
Warranwood* $393,500 $352,000 11.8
Watsonia* $295,000 $256,000 15.2
Werribee $187,000 $165,000 13.3
West Melbourne* $500,000 $514,000 -2.7
Westmeadows $260,750 $255,000 2.3
Wheelers Hill $408,500 $349,500 16.9
Williamstown $666,500 $507,000 31.5
Wonga Park $622,500 - -
Woodend* $307,000 $250,000 22.8
Yallambie* $342,500 $305,000 12.3
Yarra Glen* $274,950 $225,500 21.9
Yarraville $368,000 $318,500 15.5

* Indicates fewer than 30 sales in quarter
Source: REIV Property Report

OzTennis

Take your point! However i feel i must defend our beloved Coronation Street!
Blackpool is rather 'different' (notice that tact?) isn't it?! When you are in Lytham it's a world away though.

K

[QUOTE]Originally posted by devtrend
Thanks for the info.....I will look into that.

Kris

Hi -the University will be putting us up in temporary accomodation for a couple of weeks when we get there and we are planing on looking for a rental place then. Is this realistic? We have funds for a resonable deposit and good references and I will not be working so will be able to hunt for a house 'full time' . Williamstown looks nice, but might be a bit far out for us. What would you say the total commute time to the university would be from there? Is it on the tramn line or would you have to get a train then a tram?

Are there any other places that you would recommend living that are about 30 minutes total commute time to the University? We would probably like to live a little way out of the city.

I used to work with a Professor from Monash Geography Department when I was at Glasgow - Paul Bishop. He was quite a character!

Cheers!

Personally I like Berwick, I have lived in Glen Waverly, Knox (Boronia & Ferntree Gully.. oh and Rowville) in the past - each of these areas are considered "established" suburbs, while Berwick is in the middle of becomming established. Essentially the diferences are that Berwick is still seeing new land releases and infrastructure developments. IMHO I think new developing areas are more attractive - the infrastructure is well considered and of the highest standards - and the potential for capital growth (house value) is very good. But thats my view - the most important thing to do is take time to get very familar with the areas and choose what suits. Each suburb has its own feel and personality and you have a huge choice - making the decision is (I think) great fun. Personally I'm going down the new build route in Berwick.

Good luck

Hi

My wife and I are moving to Melborune in June/July and are hopefully just completing the formality of my visa applcaition. We are being sposored under the STNI format as our jobs are in demand (Town Planner & Teacher) and judging on (other people's) past experience it should take approx 1-2 months to go through. We are just having our skills assesed at the mo. We have no idea where to move to and our 3 week holiday in Melbourne left us none the wiser.

Everyone always says the weather is crap but its just got to be better than the North of England! We are renting our house out here (furnished) and will therefore need to rent a furnished place out there (at elast to start with). Judging from previous post this may not be simple although people do keep mentioning a serviced apartment (??) whatever they are.

Are you taking furniture with you or are you also looking for furnished accomodation?

Hi there - my husband and I will be moving to Melbourne in June as he is starting a job as a lecturer at UMelbourne.

We have also been rent our flat out in Edinburgh for the past 18 months and it has been fine.

We are not taking any furniture with us (just personal stuff like books, cooking things and a few electrical items, stereo etc and maybe my bike). This is partly because we have been living in the states for the past 18 months and we don't have any 'good' stuff here. From the bit of research that I have done - most Melbourne places are unfurnished, so we were assuming we'd have to rent unfurnished and get stuff when we get there. (there is an Ikea in Melbourne right?!)

We already did this once 18 months ago when we moved from Edinburgh to Maine into a completely unfurnished house without a single piece of furniture, bedding or even any plates!. We managed just fine - it is a bit of a hassle to start with but you just 'make do'.

We are not too worried about the weather - as it isn't our reason for mivng to oz , plus we have been living with -25C winters here.....

If you do hear of any good furnished places thaht aren't too expensive then let me know!

Good luck with your application

Hi,

Both Melborune and Sydney have and Ikea (so I've heard). A decent site I had a look at for rentals was called domain.com.au which apprently has furnished houses as well. The only problem
is you really need to know a bit about the areas and I don't.

It good that you're not too worried about moving somewhere with just the basics - bodes well for us too.

Have you visited Melbourne yourself?

I also need a decent scale plan showing Melborune and its envrons so if anyone knows of one....

Thanks for the link - I have been looking at that too (it is linked to www.theage.com which is a good on-line melbourne news site). We don't know too much about areas either but there were some good suggestions on this site in earlier posts.

I haven't been to Melbourne yet, but my husband was there a month ago and really like it (and i trust him!). I'm looking forward to living in a city again after almost 2 years in the backcountry of Maine!.


Happy house hunting!

Just realised the link is wrong
www.theage.com.au