[platypus]

I've been doing some research into Adelaide and I thought I'd share a bit of what I found. It seems like a nice, laid-back place and its housing looks more affordable than the other cities. Here's a selection of recent articles I found talking about the best suburbs in Adelaide. I hope they're useful to someone.

Best Suburb

IF you want to live in Adelaide's most liveable suburb, head for Glenalta.

"It's safe, it's comfortably well-to-do without being over the top, and in close proximity to the city."

Statistically, it out-performed suburbs like McLaren Vale, Semaphore and Rostrevor. The other finalists in his top 10 were Cumberland Park, St Peters, Grange, Sefton Park, Propsect and Modbury.

The Sunday Mail held its own readers' poll on AdelaideNow, and the seaside suburb of Hallet Cove had the most votes, followed by Grange and Glenelg. Semaphore came fourth, followed by Henley Beach and West Beach.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25699665-5013226,00.html


More About Best Suburbs

According to the most recent census data, defence hub Edinburgh has the highest median income: $862 a week, compared with the Adelaide average of $462.

The northern suburb of Angle Vale has the highest percentage of 14-year-olds (29 per cent).

"Angle Vale should be renamed Nappy Valley, with lots of young people buying their first homes there," he said.

At the other extreme - 22km away - exactly half of Salisbury South's population is in retirement. "It's a more established area, populated in the 1950s and 60s by the first generation pound stg. 10 Pom migrants," he said.

Mr Salt examined the number of English speakers in Adelaide and, according to the 2006 census, 100 per cent of Lonsdale's population spoke English as a first language. Describing the suburb as an "Anglo enclave", he said: "Adelaide is not known as a large migrant destination for non-English-speaking migrants.

"They prefer the bigger cities."

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25699233-5013226,00.html


Bargain Suburbs

HOMEBUYERS can score bargains across Adelaide with properties in some suburbs being discounted by almost 20 per cent - or $90,000.

Suburbs showing significant discounts can be found on the coast, in blue-ribbon addresses and affordable locations north and south of the city.

The biggest difference between the initial advertising price and actual sale price of houses was recorded in Hove, according to real estate analyst RP Data.

Homebuyers in this southern seaside suburb ended up paying, on average, $475,250 for their property in the year to May.

Special feature: Adelaide's most liveable suburbs

This is about $90,000 less than the vendor's first asking price. Units in the neighbouring suburb of Brighton also saw an average price discount of 7 per cent.

But the biggest unit bargain buys were recorded in Warradale, where vendors dropped their price by $ 43,000 - or 12.8 per cent - to an average $346,250 to achieve a sale.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25901757-5006301,00.html

[jimjams]

Thanks very much for the info platypus. We keep changing our minds about where we'd rather be. All the cities seem to have good points and bad points. We like the idea of Adelaide being more laid back and easier to get around than the other places AND we like the idea of lower house prices. The nicer parts of the likes of Sydney look extortionate to us. We couldn't afford a nice house in London and Sydney definately looks just as bad. We don't fancy moving all that way and only be able to afford to live in a bad area or in a tiny flat. Adelaide looks good for all the things that puts us off Sydney.

[Redwood]

yes, thanks from me too. V. useful. I wrote earlier about how we'd lost a lot of equity on our home in the UK because of falling prices and how we're worried abour being able to afford a decent lifestyle in Australia. We've also been thinking about Adelaide and Brisbane because they're cheaper. On the other hand, there seem to be a lot more private sector job opportunities in Melbourne so what you lose on the swings you're maybe gaining on the roundabouts by way of better job opportunities and higher wages in the dearer cities.