The Moreland, Brunswick West, Australia

The Australian dollar is currently at its lowest point in over five years, which makes this Melbourne opportunity an even stronger investment case. This opportunity is in the city’s Inner North - a prime investment target, in particular the neighbourhood of Brunswick West.

The Moreland has prime place within Brunswick West, an increasingly trendy part of Melbourne that’s extremely lacking in terms of apartment supply as the local population grows. The area recorded population growth of 7.8% in the five years to 2011, and housing demand is still rising as the city’s young, creative, professional community continues to drive gentrification in this traditionally working-class part of town.

Apartments at the Moreland have been designed to distinguish themselves from their small number of local competitors, with generously-sized floorplans and high-quality modern finishings. This is a project that is going to be very much a first choice for the many Melbourne residents moving into the area.

Melbourne investment case

Melbourne has become renowned for the high-quality lifestyle it offers residents, but the city is also going through a commercial boom right now. The seven years to 2012 saw a 27.5% rise in the total number of businesses in Melbourne, while gross regional product (GRP) grew by 36% between 2006 and 2012.

This is creating fantastic opportunities for Melbourne’s 70,000-strong student population, much of which is now choosing to stay on post-graduation in what QS considers the world’s second-best city for students. All this together is driving massive population growth, with some 95,000 new residents arriving every year.

Melbourne apartment prices were up by a solid 5.7% across 2014, in part driven by strong international demand, and the general outlook for the next year is very positive. Forecasts from SQM Research put projected growth in 2015 between 5% and 9%, while some local agents are even more bullish, offering forecasts of closer to 10% for certain areas.

The city’s Inner North is backed by a particularly favourable investment case. Demand is rapidly rising on the back of the popularity of the area’s laid-back suburban atmosphere and increasingly trendy reputation. However, with developers still concentrating on the CBD, there remains a lack of apartment supply in these sought-after areas.

The key Inner North districts of Fitzroy, Brunswick, Carlton North and Alphington were all among the ten Melbourne suburbs that showed the highest growth in rental prices across 2014. Each have also recorded strong price growth – Brunswick sale prices grew 9.2% across 2014.