Proximity of Public Transport Influences Property Value

Thursday, November 5, 2015 / Property Investment

If like many Australian’s you are reading this title and thinking “but I would never catch a bus”, you should keep in mind that your sentiments are not shared by everyone else within the population.

Whilst selecting the home that you are going to buy and then live in, you may not have thought too much about whether there was a convenient train line or a bus route close by.

When purchasing a property for investment purposes however, it is important to consider all factors that may influence how valuable the property becomes, as well as how easy it will be to rent out and keep occupied.

Approximately 15% of Australians choose to use public transport as their primary means of getting to work, of this 15% only one in five people used public transport due to not owning a motor vehicle.

These figures have been increasing each year, with a growing trend for people to choose an alternative to being stuck in traffic behind the driver’s wheel.

Of the numerous factors that come into play when researching and establishing which suburbs and which properties will grow in value, how close and efficient the nearest public transport is plays a large role.

Finding the Fine Line of Proximity

There is a definite sweet spot in which the transport options must sit within.

On one hand if the distance between the property and the public transport is too far, it will not even factor in. The average person is prepared to walk 5-10 minutes in order to catch their bus or train. If the distance goes much further than this then the property is not considered to actually be ‘close’ to the transport and therefore does not gain significant value benefits.

On the other hand, if the public transport is too close, such as a train line running across the road (or worse yet, against your fence line) then the convenience factor of having close transport is counter balanced by the likelihood that the noise  of the train line or bus route may interfere with your day to day life.

Train Lines Contribute Better than Bus Routes

For people who have decided to ditch the car for a more relaxing trip into work, more people prefer to catch a train than a bus. The train is not affected by traffic, so it is more likely to arrive at the correctly scheduled times, and it will get the commuters to their destination much faster than a bus will.

For this reason having a train or a tram line close to the property will be significantly more beneficial than simply having a bus route which regularly services the area.

A study by OnTheHouse.com shows consistently that suburbs that have a train line will grow at a faster rate than similar suburbs which do not have a train line.

There is also the sense that a train line is a lasting piece of infrastructure which will not be changed suddenly in the future. A bus line however can be tenuous and may occasionally be changed, redirected or cancelled altogether.

Public Transport is Still Only One of Many Factors

As always, when you are scientifically calculating growth potential in a suburb or for a property, it is not ever going to simply be a matter of “there is a train station close by, so we are set”.

Proximity of public transport is simply one of MANY factors that are calculated together to establish the likelihood of growth.

If you would like to learn more about how we spot suburbs which have a strong likelihood of growth, consider coming to one of our seminars, or simply get in touch with us!