(Here’s another suburb review featured in the April-May 2014 issue of Property Wise Magazine. In this issue we take a look at Kawana Waters—the area’s profile, facilities and infrastructure projects currently underway; and case studies—complete with the essential numbers. This is the first part of a series.)
When looking for a property investment location, two of the factors investors consider is the how attractive the area is for renters (do people want to live here?) and the potential for capital growth. Facilities, infrastructure and other projects are often key drivers of both the rental market and growth in an area. For this reason, Kawana Waters in Sunshine Coast is reaping the rewards brought by the construction of the Sunshine Coast Public University Hospital, the recent opening of the Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital, the planned expansion of the Maroochydore airport and the development of the Maroochydore city centre as a commercial and cultural city precinct. Phew, that’s a lot of projects!
In this article we’ll take a detailed look at the suburbs of Kawana Waters from a demographic perspective. We’ll look at the infrastructure and facilities based projects occurring in the area and we’ll look at the property investment opportunities available.
As always I love to recommend great suburbs but do so with a disclaimer – not every suburb or every property or even every investing strategy will be the right one for you. So remember to look at your own investment goals first and ask yourself ‘what is it that I want to achieve and over what timeframe?’ Asking these questions first will help you to determine where and what you should be looking to buy.
The demographics
An important part of your due diligence in looking for a potential investment location is knowing the demographics of your target location.
Knowing the location’s people, where they work, how they travel to work, etc. can help you decide whether the location is suited for your requirements and help you locate the type of property that has appeal to such demographics.
On that note, let’s take a look at Kawana’s demographics.
Population
Majority of Kawana’s residents belong to the 40-59 age bracket (nearly 27%). This is followed by the 20-39 age bracket (27.5%). Median age was 40 years.
Marital Status and Family Composition
Half of people in Kawana aged 15 years and up were married whilst nearly 30% are single.
Couple family without children (45%) outnumbered those who have kids (38%). Of couple families, 17% were both employed full time whilst 20.9% had one partner employed full-time and the other working part-time.
Education
Students in Kawana were mostly in primary school (31%), followed by those who are in secondary education (22.5%), and 18% in tertiary level.
Country of Birth
Around 78% of people living in Kawana were born in Australia. Most common residents of the area were from England (5.5%), New Zealand (5.4%), South Africa, Scotland and Germany.
Occupation
The labour force in Kawana Statistical Local Areas is mostly comprised of professionals (18%), technicians and tades workers (16%), clerical and administrative workers (14.5%). Others are managers and sales workers. The main industries of employment are education, food services, building and construction and hospitals.
Majority of employed people in Kawana travel to work by car (66%). A small percent (2.5%) walk going to work while 1.2% use bicycle or travel via a truck.
Housing
Properties in Kawana are mostly standalone houses (76%) with 3 bedrooms; followed by 15.5% of semi-detached, row or terrace house/townhouse types of property then 7.7% units/apartments.
Most of these properties were owned (35%) whilst 32.6% were being rented. Around 29%, meanwhile, were owned with a mortgage.
Mortgage and Rental Payments
The median weekly rent in Kawana Statistical Local Areas is $365, higher than that of the state average which is $300. Median mortgage repayments were also higher at $2000 per month compared to that of state average of mortgage repayments in Queensland.
The Numbers
Let’s take a look at the numbers on the suburbs around Kawana Waters:
(Next post we will take a look at the facilities, infrastructure projects and the properties available in Kawana Waters.)