Location

Cranbourne is located approximately 49 kilometres south east of the Melbourne CBD and is located in the Statistical Local Area of Casey City-Cranbourne. The area is located just north of the Mornington Peninsula; the area is afforded good access to Melbourne via the M1 and the South Gippsland Highway.

Economic overview

Casey City has strong fundamentals laid for economic growth well into the 21st Century. Many businesses have already been attracted to Casey by the availability and price of good quality, serviced land. Manufacturers, wholesalers, transport operators and suppliers - are all thriving in Casey's industrial estates.

Population & Demographics

As at June 2006 the population of Casey City : Cranbourne SLA was estimated to be 67,888 persons. Since 2001 the population of the SLA has increased at a rate 5.7% annually which reflects an average annual increase of 3,285 persons. The population is expected to increase to 97,134 by 2016 which reflects an annual average population growth rate of 3.7% between 2006 and 2016.

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Cranbourne is principally comprised of couples with children and couples with no children, accounting for 44% of all households and 31% respectively. Underlying demand for dwellings in the area, as a consequence of the suburb’s demographic composition, is inherently for three and four bedroom detached houses, this is supported by the average household size in the area of three persons.

The median age of Cranbourne residents at the time of the 2006 Census was 34 years. At the time of the 2006 Census Cranbourne was home 14,749 persons. Data analysis has found that 63% of population growth within the area is due to new migration to the area with the remaining 37% of population growth due to natural increase.

Education

The suburb of Cranbourne is home to nine schools, including six primary schools and two secondary schools providing a mixture of both state and private schooling options. The suburb is also home to one special education school.

Facilities

The suburb of Cranbourne also enjoys quality retail amenity provided by the Centro Cranbourne Shopping Centre located within the suburb which includes a K Mart, Coles and Safeway as well as an additional 102 specialty stores, there is also more localised shopping amenity available at the smaller Thompsons Parkway Centre. The suburb is well catered to for child care facilities with seven child care facilities located within the suburb. The suburb also has its own police and fire stations as well as many sporting facilities including: golf, soccer, Australian Rules Football, cricket, gymnastics and tenpin bowling.

Transport & Infrastructure

Under the Casey C21 document there are a number of improvements set to occur for the Cranbourne are including:

Housing Market

Cranbourne’s residential housing market and vacant land market has performed strongly in recent years. Between 2001 and 2006 there was an average of 23 sales of new houses annually within Cranbourne. Between 2001 and 2006 the price of new houses within Cranbourne increased at an average annual rate of 21.5% with the median price increasing from $121,500 in 2001 to $293,975 in 2006.

Sales of existing houses within Cranbourne have performed very strongly between 2001 and 2006 recording average annual sales of 415 sales. Between 2001 and 2006 the median price of existing houses increased from $124,000 to $217,500 which reflects average annual growth of 12.1% over the five year period.

Cranbourne has also seen strong sales volumes of vacant land between 2001 and 2006 with an average of 298 vacant land sales annually over the period. Over this same period the median price of vacant land increased by $55,050 to reach $126,500 at the end of 2006, this reflects average annual price growth of 12.6% over the period.

Rental Market

According to the Victorian Department of Housing, at the end of the March quarter 2007, the median weekly rent for a three bedroom house within the City of Casey was $225. This result reflects average annual growth in median three bedroom house rents of 4.6% for the City of Casey over the last five years.

A recent scan of available rental properties throughout Cranbourne revealed there was a total of 40 houses for rent. Of these houses for rent the majority were three bedroom houses with 15 new three bedroom houses and 14 older three bedroom houses. The new three bedroom houses recorded an average rental price of $263/week compared to the existing stock asking for $223/week. Across four bedroom stock there were 10 new four bedroom houses and one older four bedroom houses. The new four bedroom houses enjoyed an average premium over and above the older stock of $69/week with new stock renting for an average price of $294/week.