Mario Rossi,
Sales Agent at Image Property.
Why Wavell Heights is wowing buyers
[lwptoc]By Mario Rossi, Image Property
The suburb of Wavell Heights is celebrating its 80th birthday this year but remains fresh, dynamic, and young – with an energetic outlook and city views to boot as well.
Established way back in 1941, this inner-north suburb of Brisbane is now home to about 10,000 locals, who love the family-oriented locale that’s filled with green spaces, bike paths, and tiny neighbourhood cafes, all just 10 kilometres from the CBD.
Parks, paths, and pets
The southern tip of the suburb encompasses a substantial green space, featuring the Kedron Brook Dog Walk, which is a wonderful off-leash area for our four-legged friends.
Plus, there’s Shaw Park, which is a space where many organised sports are played including rugby league, union, touch footy, hockey, soccer, tennis and more.
On Friday nights, the food trucks arrive, and the community eats and plays sport together – not many locations can claim the same community spirit!
In recent years, a plethora of tiny suburban coffee shops have sprung up throughout Wavell Heights, contributing to a well-caffeinated community.
At the other end of this diverse suburb, the northern border touches 7th Brigade Park, which is an expansive corridor of green space that connects with the ever-popular Kidspace playground.
The park also hosts an annual Green Heart Fair that attracts thousands of locals for a day of environmentally supportive activities and offers play equipment, vast open spaces, a kindergarten, and walking and cycling paths that provide a direct route to Chermside Shopping Centre, which is one the largest centres in the country.
Brisbane City Council has also recently invested $400,000 upgrading the Hamilton Road precinct of small shops, adding kerbside features such as garden beds, and improving footpaths.
Schools are a key driver for the area’s appeal, with a range of public and private schools, including Wavell State High, which is one of the leading rugby league schools in the state.
Commuting to Brisbane’s top-tier schools, such as St Rita’s, All Hallows and Brisbane Grammar and Girls Grammar is also easy, with a major public transport hub at the Chermside Shopping Centre, including express buses into the city for those still working the nine to five.
Property in demand
The hidden appeal of Wavell Heights that only locals really know about is the convenience and proximity of this tucked away suburb to major features, such as the airport (just a 10-minute drive away), Boondall Entertainment Centre (another short 10-minute commute), the North Lakes Ikea and Costco precinct, and then the Sunshine Coast, (just a hop skip and a jump on the motorway).
Plus, heading south is easy with the Gateway Motorway and several tunnels to help get you there quickly.
Its location within an easy commute of the city, coupled with its ongoing gentrification, has resulted in property prices firming in Wavell Heights over recent years.
According to the latest REIQ figures, the Wavell Heights median house price has increased more than 18 per cent over the past five years to about $742,000 – a result that outshone the Brisbane average over the same period.
The suburb is still predominantly housing, but its ongoing evolution is starting to see some small-scale development with boutique townhouses being constructed on the area’s plethora of large blocks.
That said, with the nearby suburbs of Nundah and Chermside becoming increasingly densely populated over recent years, Wavell Heights remains popular with young families looking for a suburb not far from the CBD that offers houses on good-sized blocks of land.
While the suburb has a diverse mix of stunning million-dollar properties in the southern end and the mid-tier homes that populate the middle and northern ends, it is generally regarded as a family suburb – with most being first-home buyers.
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