NSW property market: Macarthur suburbs dominate list of best Sydney spots to invest in

A new study has revealed the top 20 locations for property investors in Sydney. See the full list and find out which Macarthur suburbs made the cut.

Suburbs in Macarthur tick all the boxes and provide the best bang for buck for property investors, a new report shows.

The Make Your Move report, powered with PropTrack data, analysed price movements, rents, yields and tenant demand in every suburb in the country to determine the “best” locations for investing.

Suburbs deemed favourable for investors had higher rental returns, soaring demand from tenants and a history of strong growth in local property values.

Catherine Field, Camden South, Camden and Glen Alpine all landed in Sydney’s 20 top spots for house investments, while Leumeah was in the top 20 for apartment investments.

Meryl LaMacchia.

My Property Consultants real estate agent Meryl LaMacchia has lived in the Macarthur area her whole life, and used to run a business in Camden. She’s been in the property game for six years now, and said it’s obvious why the region is so attractive to investors.

Ms LaMacchia said Macarthur, but suburbs in Camden in particular, had a lot of potential for property investors because of the booming development in the region.

“It’s a place of opportunity and it is well managed in its approach to growth as well,” she said.

“You have the Aerotropolis, the M9 Orbital and all these new sub developments from Catherine Field to Austral and Oran Park and Menangle.

“We are going to be close to the airport, but not so close that you get that really heavy price tag.”

Ms LaMacchia said rental prices were affordable in Macarthur, and landlords were seeing great growth. She added that Macarthur’s location with important services all in reach made it that more attractive.

“In Camden, the block sizes are still reasonable even though there is so much development, it still has that country feel, that beautiful country feel,” she said.

“I think as an investor if I was looking for somewhere to get, I want to go somewhere where there is high demand so there is low rental vacancies.

“You also need to have employment, good schools, hospitals, transport and we have all that here plus you can still commute to the city so it ticks the boxes.”

According to the Make Your Move report, plummeting housing demand and an explosion in rents have created a window of opportunity for property investors to get cheaper Sydney properties with lower holding costs.

And the most fertile hunting grounds to find these deals are in southwest Sydney, the Central Coast and the Blacktown region.

Suburbs deemed favourable for investors had higher rental returns, soaring demand from tenants and a history of strong growth in local property values.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said the Central Coast and parts of Sydney’s southwest dominated the rankings because, compared to the city average, rents were much higher relative to home prices.

Property prices were also continuing to grow in some of these suburbs, despite the recent market downturn, due to an influx of “lifestyle” buyers wanting extra space, Mr Moore said.

The economist noted investors appeared to be capitalising on some of the improved conditions.

“Investment activity has been rising,” Mr Moore said. “Vacancies are now much less of a risk than they were in the early pandemic.

“At that time, rents were dropping in some areas, particularly the inner city, and some investors were selling properties and getting out of the market.”

Nathan Birch, the founder of buyer’s agency Binvested and the owner of more than 200 properties, said the “softer housing market” made it an ideal time to buy an investment property.

“Fear is everywhere because rates are rising. This is the time to get the best deals,” he said, adding that it was a similar climate to 2008, when the global financial crisis was spooking buyers.

Prices had fallen across most suburbs during that period but the market quickly recovered in 2009 and the buyers who purchased during the slump got quick equity growth, Mr Birch said.

He noted recent rises in rents – Sydney house rents climbed 20 per cent over the past year – were well above recent interest rate hikes.

“Mortgage costs have gone up, but so have rents. You have to know where to look, but there are opportunities to get properties where the rent is more than the (repayments),” Mr Birch said.