property prices in the inner city suburbs are over priced, I...

property prices in the inner city suburbs are over priced, I have always stated that
I would not touch them
I would love to live in some of the nicer inner suburbs, but in Melbourne not all are equal....I would not go near Richmond, Carlton Brunswick Fitzroy etc
In fact I only like Toorak.
Parts of Sth Yarra are full of either little tiny dog boxes, or stacks of tiny mundane 60's units...some of the outer suburbs are far more attractive.

what most do not realise, when the cities were first founded, it was the workers huts that were built to house the workers
the gentry and wealthier people lived on country estates or on farmland
I was absolutely shocked when my parents took me to Melbourne one year, and we actually visited some people living in Yarraville....it blew me away, the size of the lounge room was about the size of our bathroom...

it is typical of the size of the workers cottages, that are still there today , on the tiniest blocks of land...barely able to swing a golf club in the rooms, or the backyard
and this is what they are scrambling over each other to pay over 600k's for...
when you are used to living in a much larger house, with huge gardens and backyards, it would be difficult to adapt to something so tiny
there are plenty of affordable houses out in the burbs

the alternate is to find an older very large unit in the inner burbs, and there are some very affordable ones there
even in Toorak
I realise most of the bears angst is to find their first affordable home, not an investment property.
But my criteria is the same whether is is the PPOR or and IP

Plus I am aware of and have seen first hand the changes that can take place in a city. The Melbourne CBD became very unattractive for offices in the 1980's, so they all moved out of the city, and down to St Kilda Rd. The city was in the doldrums, offices were converted into backpackers hotels and cheap slum units.
Then when the smart money tired of St Kilda Rd and the suburbs, they all moved back into the city, converting the resi units back into offices.
There were many people who made money, and just as many lost money. Similarly with St Kilda Rd.
I have no doubt further changes will take place, and the CBD can become unpopular again.
This is not the case with the conservative type suburbs.
I am not in the mood or have the frame of mind, to be trying to read the market.
I am happy to buy in a safe spot, with at least a ten plus year time frame.
My posts seem to fall on deaf ears, as I am against the high priced inner suburbs that the bears pine for.

Buying or renting a unit and living and working there will be good for many young people as they build their careers.
I think it will require a huge change of faith for traditional aussies to adapt to raising a family in a unit, without the traditional garden and backyard.
People from other cultures who are familiar with the concept will readily adapt.
it is always, horses for course and what suits each individual
However if the state governments allow thousands of units to be built willy nilly to cater for the current fad, it could all turnaround, and become unpopular just as quickly.