We are blessed that Australia is a civilised country with a reasonably maintained crime rate to other nations throughout the world.
It’s not uncommon to meet people who don’t lock their doors or their motor vehicles. Knowing we live in a peaceful environment, you should always still look into the crime rate of the neighbourhood you are intending to buy a property.
Regardless if you are buying with a purpose to occupy the property or to invest, it’s beneficial to ascertain the safety of the area and to determine the suburb’s criminal history. This not only provides you with additional peace of mind, but it’s likely to affect your general insurance premiums.
From an owner occupier perspective managing the cost of living is very important. Taking note of the crime rate may save you a substantial amount of money. From building insurance, motor vehicle covers to contents insurance, these can stress your budget.
From an investor perspective, you’re obviously not too anxious of the risks as you aren’t living at the property, however there are a few other points that should be considered. When buying a property with the anticipation of capital growth, if the crime rate is high, this can really reduce the investment returns. It may also impact your ability to sell it in the future as buyers may be ‘put-off’. This liquidity issue can certainly affect your investment. Another fine point to note is the rental return. A higher crime suburb is likely caused by a lower demographic our financial status. This puts stress on the rental asking price as many potential tenants have less cash flow to pay for rent. This may cause you to lower your asking price to ensure it’s not vacant.
Where should I start looking?
Looking at the most recent crime statistics through the Australian Police Force will help you learn more about your desired area. They maintain a historical record of all criminal offences that occur throughout Australia. Take some time to review the statistics on their website. They information is free to the public.
There are many other websites online that provide graphical illustrations and maps. They are also quite useful and relatively easy to understand.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also has a lot of content on crime rates. It also outlines other things to consider such as employment rates ,average household income and vacancy rates.
After researching the stats, go drive out for yourself
After evaluating the statistics, drive out to the area and take a look for yourself. Spend some time walking the streets, shopping at a supermarket, grabbing a small bite to eat or taking public transport. You’ll get a first-hand experience to the type of people are in the area and if they are likely people you would live next door to or want living in your investment property.
Obtain some word of mouth
Word of mouth is often the best form of communication. However, in property, sometimes this information is biased. Coming from a trusted source will help immensely but it shouldn’t stop you from doing your own research.
Last but not least
Researching a property is very time consuming to say the least. Further researching a neighbourhood’s rate of crime can seem daunting and time wasteful. This is why we reiterate employing a buyers advocate like ourselves at Crest Property Investments. Our service is to source property based on your budget and objectives. We look into crime rates, investment statistics and government planning. This and many other factors play a large role in getting you the best lifestyle or investment returns you are looking for.
While we have taken care to ensure the information above is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances and legislation after the displayed date may impact the accuracy of this article. If you want to learn more please contact us. We welcome the opportunity to assist you.
February 2019
