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Scarborough, WA 6019 Suburb Profile | Buyers Agency | Real Estate

Updated: May 8

An Icon of the West, Scarborough is a coastal suburb of Perth situated 14km north west of the CBD in the City of Stirling Local Government Area.


Scarborough is known as one of the best lifestyle suburbs of Perth for family days out, surfing, swimming, bars and restaurants. It is one of Perth's most liveable suburbs, as seen regularly in REIWA's ratings. Scarborough has been the host of many international events, including the America's Cup in 1987 and many of the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, latest being in 2023.


Scarborough is well known for being one of the surf capital locations of the west and is named after Scarborough in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Lifestyle

Scarborough is one of Australia's best lifestyle suburbs, regularly rated very highly by Homely, it is known as the Surf capital of Perth and Western Australia.


As within its title, Scarborough is known for being one of the best surf beaches in WA, regularly holding local and national competitions. This also extends to windsurfing, as the Fremantle Doctor (Afternoon Breeze) swings through the west most afternoons.


From South Scarborough through to Trigg, boardriders can be seen as far as the eye can see on days of good swell. Locals also enjoy walking and running along the coast track that extends past the Sorrento Scenic Drive and as far down as Cottesloe.


Shops, restaurants and bars line the beachfront of Scarborough which serves as the key entertainment precinct. Nightlife Thursday to Sunday is common within the bars and pubs alike.


School Zones

Scarborough and Deanmore Primary School both serve younger residents of the suburb, depending on where they reside. St John's Primary School also lies within the suburb for catholic education. Most of the Public School students attend Hale Middle School & Churchlands Senior High School, just south towards Wembley Downs & Churchlands.


Over recent years, Scarborough has gentrified quite significantly, and many adolescent students now attend the International School of Western Australia, Christ Church Grammar School, Scotch College, Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) & St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls. All lie within about 15 minutes of Scarborough.


Mount Hawthorn Education Support Centre, lies only 10 minutes from Scarborough and serves students of special needs.

Demographics

Scarborough historically has been a suburb of mixed demographics. Particular pockets have held a wealthier population, but others have had very much a working class population. Due to this, Scarborough is well known for having a very strong local community. In recent years, Scarborough has become significantly gentrified, with a major wealth shift occurring. In the years between 2006 and 2021, median household income nearly doubled from $1076 to $2107 per week.


This wealth shift was largely due to prominence of Professionals moving into the suburb, particularly professionals with families for lifestyle purposes. Since 1990, home prices have also increased ten fold (10x), moving from just over $100,000 to over $1,000,000 as of January, 2024.


Employment

The Healthcare sectors employs close to 5% of residents in Scarborough across nursing, paramedics, doctors and other health professionals.


There is a large presence of workers and professionals in the resources sector within Scarborough too, making up close to 4% of the suburb population.


Younger residents often work in the cafes and restaurants throughout the suburb. It should be noted that Scarborough now has close to 50% of employees that work as either professionals or managers, up from 29% in 2006 as per the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Transport

Scarborough is a transport hub for both the Northern Suburbs and CBD, with a main bus stop servicing locations North of Hillarys & Joondalup and South towards Cottesloe and Fremantle.


There are many express bus services that run into the CBD, Leederville and Mount Lawley.


As a lifestyle suburb, many residents of Scarborough own private vehicles, with most households having close to 2. This is particularly common amongst families with children.

Shopping Centre's, Restaurants & Facilities

Scarborough along with Mount Lawley & Cottesloe is known as being one of the hottest locations for lifestyle, night life, bars and restaurants in Perth.


Many old and new restaurants and bars line the front of Scarborough, mixed of both fine dining, new trendy style bars and pubs. Many of the younger generations enjoy this as do the regular tourists that visit, most of which stay in the famous Rendezvous Hotel, Scarborough that towers over the beachfront of the suburb.


There are a few smaller gyms, as well as healthcare clubs such as running, yoga, board riding and surf clubs within the suburb.


Team sports in the suburb include Cricket, aussie rules, rugby and soccer. There are a few smaller reserves in the suburb, but the main sporting faciities are Albert Park Reserve and Butlers Reserve on the north and south side of the suburb.

As one of Perth's older suburbs, there are many long term residents who live amongst the retirement and aged care living that is prevalent within the suburb, particularly either side of Scarborough Beach Road.

Development

Scarborough historically has been a difficult suburb to develop in, with the Rendezvous Hotel development in the 1980s proving a long and intense public campaign to complete.


Alan Bond famously wanted to convert Scarborough Beach to a 'Strip' however was met with subsequent amendments allowing the City of Stirling to have a maximum 8 story height limit.

Most of the development lies along Scarborough Beach Road towards Doubleview, mostly being low rise townhouses, freehold title subdivided houses and units under 2 stories.


Units do exist within Scarborough, though most were developed in the 80s and 90s, using terracotta tiles and brick. Most of the units only sit within zoning that permits 2-3 stories, there are very few sites left that permit more.


Capital Growth

Scarborough is one of Perth's best suburbs for capital growth for houses, regularly clocking in growth between 7-9% over the course of a few cycles.


The better regions for growth include South Scarborough and also the houses towards South Trigg, as there is very little room for development and they are often tightly held.


Often units perform relatively well for Perth, at between 5-6% growth year on year. Often the best performing units are renovated units in good locations close to the beach fronts, built in the 1980s.


Cash Flow

Scarborough is one of the few suburbs that exist nationwide, where you have a beachside icon, yielding at above 4% for houses. Generally most houses in Scarborough yield between 4.2-4.6%, depending on their location and price.


Most of the better yielding houses are new builds and lie close to the beach or Scarborough Beach Road's transport lines.


Units and townhouses generally yield between 4.8-5.5%, though in some exceptional cases can yield above 6%, especially when the market is running hot.


Rental Demand

Scarborough houses are always in demand and generally sit with 1.5-2.5% vacancy rates, however in recent years this has generally sat below 1%, particularly with the housing crisis and fight to quality in Western Australia.


Units and townhouses generally sit with 2-4% vacancy rates, however alike to houses are found to be in hot demand presently.

Scarborough is one of the few suburbs in WA where rental demand is almost always constant, where rental prices often over time rise steadily with few falls. Generally this leads to increases between 2-4% year on year on average.

Why You Require a Buyers Agent in Scarborough

Scarborough is one of Australia's most iconic suburbs, nationally and world renown, it is always in high demand.


Scarborough is a suburb that has gone through significant gentrification in recent years. It is home to many long term residents as it is, new residents with significant wealth at their disposal.

Buyers need to be aware buying in Scarborough as certain pockets perform significantly better than others. There is a particularly strong fight to quality in Scarborough, with certain pockets having extremely long hold periods, some streets as long as 20 years.


Stock levels in recent years have become a significant issue, that has only pushed prices further up. Scarcity is something that is ever present and growing, leaving many buyers chasing their tail looking for stock that is on market. It is not uncommon for buyers to find themselves outbid by the wealthy demographic that tend to buy here.


Finally, often the best stock in Scarborough is transacted completely off market, largely due to the presence of celebrities in many of the better pockets of the suburb.


Having a well experienced and expert Buyers Agent in Scarborough is a way of ensuring that you pick up the best product available, at the right price and have the necessary access required to make it the purchase of a lifetime.


Why not seek Professional Advice from one of our consultants

  • We are unbiased market investors, who will put you first.

  • We treat every deal for your portfolio as if it were our own.

  • We will give the time to understand every clients situation & needs.

  • Our performance is unparalleled in the industry.

  • We have a background in Finance, Banking, Mortgages, Leveraging, Taxation & We are Present Market Investors.

  • We are precise down to the level of the suburb, street & house for greater performance.

  • The cost of our service is nearly half of what many industry professionals charge, yet their results do not represent value for the cost of their services.

Phone: (02) 9136 0263

Email: admin@compoundinvest.com.au


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