Real estate hotspots revealed

Real estate hotspotsan average 34.4 per cent every year since 2000, compared to a national suburban average of 9.9 per cent for houses, and 8.1 per cent for units.

WA metropolitan home-owners appear to be the biggest winners in the country, with Perth accounting for 11 of the suburbs in the top 20 growth areas.

The other areas in the top 20 are Jindalee, Bertram, Hammond Park, Wattle Grove, Aubin Grove, Butler, Carramar, Darch, Sinagra, and Beeliar.

Only units in Oaksdown in Greater Hobart enjoyed slightly higher capital gain at 34.6 per cent, but house prices were highest in Perth’s semi-rural Herne Hill in the Swan Valley.

Local Elders Real Estate agent Ian Henry said prices started to skyrocket in 2005, after years of sluggish growth.

He said the area had wineries, breweries, top restaurants and café culture, while at the same time offering the benefits of a country lifestyle, such as tight-knit community and big blocks of land.

The city was only 20km away, and major shopping centres such a Morley Galleria.

“It seems like Perth only really discovered the Swan Valley a few years ago,” Mr Henry said.

He said growth had been sluggish this year, as in most areas, but was expected to pick up again next year.

The RP Data report said the top growth suburbs around the nation were mostly situated on the outskirts of cities.

“This is largely due to the fact that in most instances pricing has come from a very low base ten years ago,” said the report.

“Undoubtedly new development has helped boost prices in many of these areas.”

The report said that it was unlikely that these areas would enjoy the same level of capital growth over the next decade.

Top Ten Growth areas:

1. Oakdowns, Greater Hobart, unit – $275,000(median price) (34.6 per cent increase in 10 years)

2. Herne Hill, Perth, house – $595,000 (34.4 per cent)

3. Jindalee, Perth, house – $600,000 (33.3 per cent)

4. Bertram, Perth, house – $383,000 (33.3 per cent)

5. Blairmount, Sydney, house – $327,000 (33.3 per cent)

6. Hammond Park, Perth, house – $485,000 (33.1 per cent)

7. Beecroft, Sydney, unit – $520,000 (32.7 per cent)

8. Gunn, Darwin, house – $464,000 (32.7 per cent)

9. Wattle Grove, Perth, house – $450,000 (32.6 per cent)

10 Gardenvale, Melbourne, unit – $328,000 (32.4 per cent)

Source  :  www.thewest.com.au

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Winemakers to boycott Swan Valley ‘debauch’

Swan Valley winemakers have vowed to boycott the coming Spring in the Valley festival, saying the two-day event has become too unruly and overcrowded.

Little River Winery and John Kosovich Wines said they would have nothing to do with the popular festival when it was staged on October 10 and 11 because it was a “debauch”. Other wineries said they would hold their own separate events to coincide with its running.

It comes as the Swan Valley Tourism Council, which organises the event, confirmed it would introduce a $5 entry fee for the first time in the festival’s history. The fee will apply to all people attending the event, with 40 per cent of proceeds to go to Ticketmaster and the rest to the council. With as many as 70,000 people expected to attend, the fee could net the council $200,000. Swan Valley Tourism Council executive officer Geraldine Riggir said patrons would need to show their tickets at all participating venues.

The cost of the ticket will not entitle patrons to entry into all venues, with many set to charge their own admission prices. Ms Riggir said the council’s $5 fee would help cover the cost of staging the event, while it would also allow organisers to better manage crowds. She defended the festival in the face of criticism from some Swan Valley businesses, arguing it was the best way of showcasing local products to a broad market.

“It’s not a terrible festival, it’s a fantastic festival,” she said. “It’s just a small element of it that is a problem. All the valley is trying to do is showcase the region and what it has to offer.”

Upper Reach Winery owner Laura Pearse said she would sell a limited number of tickets privately to ensure crowd numbers were kept under control. She backed the festival as a going concern, saying it was predominantly a “lovely day out”. But Little River Winery owner Jan de Tastes said she would close her winery in protest because she no longer felt the festival represented the best interests of producers in the valley.

“If it was a quality festival you could be proud of it but at the moment you’ve got the drunkenness taking over to such as degree that the whole thing is a debauch,” she said.

Mrs de Tastes threatened to sue the council and event sponsors if anything happened to her winery during the event.

Source  :  www.thewest.com.au

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Perth resort restaurant named and shamed

A Swan Valley tourist resort is the latest outlet to be named and shamed on WA’s ever-growing filthy restaurant register.

The Swan Valley Oasis Restaurant and Function Centre at Henley Brook is the 46th eatery to be so exposed on the ‘Notifications of Convictions’ list published by the the WA Health Department.

As revealed first on WAtoday, the venue was fined $8,750, and ordered to pay $1571.70 in costs, for hygiene breaches including:               

– allowing vermin into the restaurant;
– exposing food to possible contamination; and
– failing to ensure the premises and appliances were clean.

The restaurant is part of the Swan Valley Oasis Resort, which also boasts a golf course and boutique brewery.

The eatery serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, and is a popular wedding reception venue.

Testimonials on the venue’s website include one from Helen, of Hong Kong.

“Clean, relaxed and family-friendly – really pleased to have found a nice, reasonably-priced place to stay before heading out of Perth,” Helen wrote.

According to the website, Rebecca, of Paynes Find, was “pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meals and service”.  Samantha, of Albany, found the venue “very clean and neat” and said she would “definitely be back”.

Since September 2006, the 46 prosecuted food outlets have together been fined in excess of $170,000.

However, this might only be the thin edge of the potato wedge, because it is not compulsory for local authorities to report breaches to the government.

Hence, only hygiene breaches in 11 of WA’s 139 local authorities appear on the government’s dirt list.

After WAtoday.com.au exposed the initial 41 list inductees in January, Health Minister Kim Hames rejected a call by consumer group Choice to post hygiene ratings on restaurant doors.

Mr Hames said that hygeine breaches from every local council would be added to the list when mandatory reporting was introduced under a new Food Act that is being drafted.

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