Waratah Area Overview

Waratah is located 6km to the west of Newcastle CBD with a population of just over 4000. Local services are particularly strong with excellent medical facilities and public transport.  Several well regarded schools are located within the suburb and tertiary institutions including the University of Newcastle are within a 2km radius.  Extensive parkland and access to the International Sports Centre and Newcastle Showgrounds complete the picture of a quality family suburb.

As a noted “HotSpot” some key highlights of the Newcastle region’s economy include:

1.       Diverse and strong economy

Newcastle’s economy is sustained by a mining boom which is only gathering pace supported by growing education and health sectors.   Newcastle University has also released plans to expand to 40,000 students over the next decade, thus becoming one of the top three regional universities in Australia. 

 2.       Mining boom to drive market

Terry Ryder of ‘The Australian’ newspaper and hotspotting.com.au has declared Newcastle a “hot spot” in NSW and one of his top 7 nationally.  Citing the $2 billion of infrastructure improvements to ports and coal transport already underway, Newcastle continues to capture 90% of the $4 billion worth of coal annually exported by the state of NSW. 

3.       Prices are low

Newcastle appears to be either at, or close to the bottom of the residential market cycle.  Invest Smart’s statistics show both house and unit prices in Newcastle retracting 13% during 2009”.  The Hunter region also offers investors a generally lower entry point to the market and consequently greater potential capital growth than capital cities.  These appraisals, when aligned, indicate an excellent opportunity for investors during 2010. 

4.       Undersupply of stock

The Newcastle market also appears to be short of quality residential stock.  Currently only 13% of dwellings in the suburb are units and of these, the vast majority are run down and in need of a make-over. The median price range for units within the suburb ranges from $160,000 (1 bedroom) to $320,000 (2 bedroom) suggesting that there is a shortage of premium units on the market.