Ask RiotACT: How will light rail affect nearby properties?

Coming soon to a suburb near you: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-09/tram-breaks-down-in-adelaide-intersection/9533146

As your property is close to a light rail station, its value will go up relative to an average property. If it is more than 800 metres from a light rail station, its value will go down because residents will have to either walk farther to reach public transport, or walk to a bus stop and then face the delay and inconvenience of interchanging to light rail.

Thanks for all your responses. Starting from 2014 throughout just late last year, the REA’s I’ve spoken to keep telling me properties along the light rail won’t go up at all as they already have when light rail was announced. Suspected that was BS just to get me to sell ASAP.

Might take people up on their advice and wait it out another year or so.

Property prices have already risen sharply around the light rail route and will continue to do so in the next couple of years.

It was the only reason that the first stage was even marginally viable.

According to the REIQ Queensland Market Monitor for Q2 2017, the Gold Coast median house price has increased by 6.8% to $595,000 over the last year.

The houses near the tram stops fared slightly better.

Once the light rail is finsihed (or at least the Gungahlin to Civic leg) then property prices start to rise, especially ones within waking distance of a tra mstop but now with all the construction work still going on and a lot of the roads in the area partialll or fully blocked then I would say it would be harder to sell a property. It all depends too on what sort of property yours is (ie a house or a unit) and location (being near a tram stop is only part ofthe value – is it near schools or shops as well and what suburb is it?) Property in Harrison probably isn’t probably going to be worth as much as a property in Downer or Turner, all things being equal.

If you are in no hurry to sell and don’t need the money then keep it and either live in it or rent it out and sell it once the tram is up and running (before govco realise it’s a white elephant and no one is using it).