Big infrastructure spend prompts ‘power house’ predictions for WA suburb

The projects include a $520 million rail extension to Yanchep, a $210 million freeway extension to Romeo Road to the south of Yanchep, and the $23 million upgrade of Marmion Avenue to Yanchep, to which Mr Rendell called them the “trifecta of key transport projects” and said that they were likely to lift both demand and value in the area.

“This combination of new transport infrastructure will dramatically reduce the travelling time between Yanchep and the Perth city centre by up to 10 minutes, making it even more desirable to property buyers seeking a coastal lifestyle,” Mr Rendell said.

“The massive new transport infrastructure spending around Yanchep over the next three years will give a sustained upward momentum to property values in Yanchep and cement its position as a top performer in the Perth property market.

Mr Rendell said that the effect of upgrading transport links and property values is not just something that has been assumed, but has been backed up through studies – both Australian and international.

“For example, The London School of Economics developed a model that demonstrates a 1 per cent improvement in a location’s accessibility to employment opportunities results in a rise in property value of between 0.25 and 0.3 per cent,” Mr Rendell said.

“A study in Brisbane by PRDnationwide [also] found that suburbs with rail access increased in value by around 3 per cent more than those without rail access.”

There has also been empirical evidence to back up Mr Rendell’s claims in the greater Perth area with the opening of the Butler train station.

“During the five-year period from the announcement of the Butler railway station in 2009 until it was opened in 2014, the price of land surged from $499 to $831 per square metre. This provided significant equity growth for buyers who purchased early,” he said.

“The announcement of the railway line to Butler resulted in a flurry of property buyers moving into this new Perth suburb. This created upward pressure on land values over a sustained period of time leading up to the construction completion of the Butler railway station.

“We expect a similar trend to be repeated in Yanchep over the next three years with more buyers building new homes in the area in anticipation of the completion of the major new transport infrastructure in the area.”

Yanchep’s status of a hotspot was cemented in the March data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, which placed it in Perth’s top 10 best performing suburbs for capital growth.