Collingwood is an inner suburb of Melbourne, located in the City of Yarra Local Government Area, situated 3km north east of Melbourne's Central Business District.
Collingwood is well known as one of the fastest gentrifying suburbs in Australia and Melbourne. It is well known for its heritage buildings, factories and nineteenth century dwellings, many of which are in use. Collingwood is a suburb historically well known for its working class population, historically having many rallies to restore and maintain the unique character of the neighborhood.
In terms of property prices, Collingwood is well known as a now expensive suburb, surpassing $1M in 2017 for the first time, however is somewhat affordable in comparison to its nearby neighbors such as Clifton Hill & Richmond.
Lifestyle
Alike to many of the inner suburbs of Melbourne, Collingwood is known for having great city life and culture. Many residents enjoy the watching the renown Collingwood Magpies Aussie Rules club over the winter months and Cricket over the summer months and the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Harmsworth & Hood Street Reserves, along with Unity Park are all common locations within Collingwood for locals to enjoy picnics and everyday outdoor activities. Collingwood is especially well known for its arts and crafts culture, with many buildings have beautiful and interesting murals painted on them. The region is known for also having a gay village with several gay only venues existing in the suburb.
School Zones
Abbotsford Primary School is the local school for younger residents who wish to have a public education. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School serves students of the same age for a Catholic Education.
Collingwood College provides adolescent students with an education and is within the suburb, many of the young people of the suburb attend this school.
Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne Girls Grammar are two other schools that some of the wealthier residents send their children to.
Rossbourne School & Croxton School are the two closest schools for students of special needs and lie roughly 10 minutes east and north of Collingwood.
Demographics
Collingwood has a long and decorated history of a working class population, and still has a significant proportion of public housing towers that exist within the suburb.
In recent years this has started to shift with many professionals moving into the neighborhood, some with very healthy sums of wealth, changing the overall feel of pockets of the suburb.
The median weekly household income has increased at one of the fastest paces in Australia and Victoria between 2006 to 2021, rising from $871 to $2,130 per week.
A key thing to note in Collingwood is that the average monthly mortgage repayments are almost entirely covered by the median weekly household income, meaning many mortgage holders have very high disposable income in relation to their expenses.
Employment
Nearly 50% of all employees who reside in Collingwood are professionals, and a further 17% are managers. This constitutes some of the highest levels of high income earners in Australia.
They are predominantly in Healthcare, Administration, IT & Education, however a small number of employees do work within cafe's and restaurants. This is particularly common amongst the younger residents who reside in Collingwood.
A key note should be made that the median personal income is close to 60% above the average Australian median income at $1,338 per week compared to $805 per week.
Transport
Collingwood is bounded by a few main roads: Smith Street to the west, Victoria Parade to the south, Hoddle Street to the east and Alexandra Parade to the north.
Buses and trams service these streets with services regularly running into the CBD and to other pockets of the inner north and inner east.
Victoria Park and Collingwood Railway Stations are another method of transport that lie in neighboring Abbotsford.
Walking and cycling are two very common methods of transport in Collingwood, with more than 1 in 4 residents not owning a vehicle, close to 4 times the national average, most residences in Collingwood only have a single vehicle.
Shopping Centre's, Restaurants & Facilities
Collingwood is known as a 'walkers paradise' as per walk score, with a walkability of 92/100. It has almost all facilities close by in nearly every pocket of the suburb.
Smith Street has a dominant shopping strip and is filled with cafes and many alternative style stores. It is well known for having a few gay bars as well.
Many residents who wish to have an entire shop either visit Melbourne CBD, Harbourtown or Docklands for the entire experience, only a few stops on the tram or train away.
Sport is a very popular topic in Collingwood, with the Magpies at the centre of attention during most of the year. Other common sports include cricket and soccer, regularly seen at the nearby MCG or AAMI Park.
Gyms and healthcare clubs are common along the main streets of the suburb, most are filled with locals that live walking distance away.
Development
Collingwood is a suburb of mixed development characteristics and development. Along the main roads of the suburb, in particular Smith Street, there is many commercial buildings and some shop top housing.
Most of the quieter streets are filled with miners cottages, or attached terrace dwellings, most of which do not have parking.
Collingwood is also home to many heritage listed buildings on the Victorian Heritage Register, such as Collingwood Town Hall. Many of these are immaculately maintained and make for great photographs.
Towards Abbotsford there also lie many warehouses and older commercial buildings, some of which have been there for over 150 years.
Apartments and townhouses privately owned are uncommon in Collingwood, but do exist and attract large sums. Many of the apartments lie in the Public Housing Victoria's hands as they provide affordable housing for the most vulnerable.
Capital Growth
Despite a history of a very working class population, Collingwood remains one of Australia's best suburbs for capital growth. This is largely down to a superb location close to the CBD and other great employment hubs such as Richmond and Kew.
Collingwood has performed at close to 9.5% capital growth on average for the past 50 years, well above the Victorian and Australian average. Some pockets, are known to perform at levels close to 11%, particularly common within the well known in demand streets of the suburb.
Townhouses and apartments have very insufficient data due to very few public sales, however generally perform at 6 and 3% respectively.
Cash Flow
Houses in Collingwood have some of the best yield in Melbourne and Victoria for a suburb over $1 million, and generally yield between 3.3-3.5%. Often many suburbs in Victoria above $1 million yield below 2.8%.
Units and townhouses have a yield closer to 5%, though are few and far between within the suburb.
Collingwood, aside from the public housing has a very high owner occupier percentage above 70%, meaning houses are not commonly available for lease.
Rental Demand
Presently in 2024, Collingwood has a critical shortage of stock for houses, with a vacancy rate of 0.3%, meaning basically all rental accommodation that comes to market is snapped up within days or even pre-market.
Houses generally average closer to 1.5% vacancy rates, significantly lower than the Victorian average.
Townhouses and units average closer to 2% vacancy rates, very low in comparison to other parts of Melbourne such as the CBD and Southbank. It should be noted that during COVID19, apartments in Melbourne had record high vacancy rates, nudging 6%.
Houses however in Collingwood, were mostly unaffected, and did not cross 4% as per SQM Research. Due to this, commonly houses in Collingwood commonly see 2.5-4% rental increases per year largely supported by an increasing demographic residing in the suburb.
Why You Require a Buyers Agent in Collingwood
Years ago, no one wished to live in Collingwood, and agents would struggle to sell property in the suburb, however in recent decades this is long gone, and stock levels have more than halved.
The best stock in Collingwood attracts some of the fiercest competition and bidding in Victoria, and it is not uncommon to find hundreds of people in a street overseeing an auction for a property in the correct location.
Location is a strong element in Collingwood that often individuals get wrong, as there are very specific pockets to avoid and generally underperform in comparison to the more accredited pockets.
Having a buyers agent in your corner can give you the access to the right properties, correct bidding strategy, in the correct location and create a seamless transaction that saves you thousands on the way in and makes you millions for years to come.
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