Homeowner nets $1.5m windfall following huge change in her suburb

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A homeowner has recounted how she walked away with a $1.5m windfall from the sale of her long-time property due to considerable changes in the area that have sent local house prices soaring.

Padstow local Lea Woods has lived in Padstow and surrounds her entire life and has seen the area undergo significant changes as it emerges as a bustling growth suburb popular with Sydney families.

PropTrack data showed the suburb is now one of the fastest growing areas in Sydney, with local property prices growing by 11.3 per cent over the past year alone – well above the circa 8 per cent rise in values across Greater Sydney.

“The area was a real working mans area, people struggled for years but everyone in the area was happy,” she said.

PropTrack revealed that Padstow had a median house price of $1,367,100.

Surrounding suburbs where Ms Woods grew up had also have experienced a boom in the last year, Panania had increased by 10.9 per cent and Picnic Point by 10.1 per cent.

Ms Woods recently sold her Padstow home for $1.552m which she had purchased almost 50 years ago now.

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She said she remembers paying around $28,000 for it and she was very surprised at the huge price it sold for.

“It was a bit of a unique property so I wasn’t sure what market it would fit into,” she said. “It could have been investors, or someone could purchase to knock it down.”

Ms Woods had extended on the property to include a self contained unit, so her elderly parents were able to live with her for a period of time.

“I’m really happy it has sold to a young family because it’s been such a lovely home for such a long time and to pass the baton on was really nice.”

After living in the area for such a long time, she said there have been a lot of changes in the area.

“It’s always been a family oriented area but it’s more multicultural now which gives the area a different dynamic, but we have seen so many changes over the years.”

She noticed a lot of older houses were being knocked down and turned into duplexes which meant the suburb was a lot busier than it used to be.

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“Which creates a whole new problem with parking, suddenly you have one house where you might have had 4 to 5 people living in the house then that’s knocked down it has two properties with double the amount of people,” she said.

“And cars having to park on the street – people have more and more cars these days, most families used to only have one car.”

The M5 motorway being built and the train line extended to MacArthur, Campbelltown and the airport line were other huge catalysts for change in the area, Ms Woods said.

“Small family businesses were overcome by the large supermarkets and small hardware stores swallowed by Bunnings,” she said.

“Take away food consisted of the local fish and chips before the likes of McDonalds and KFC.”

Another big shift in the area she noted was when the Western Sydney University opened.

“I remember when my kids were at school there wasn’t a university except UNSW and University of Sydney, then suddenly the University of Western Sydney, it was a great thing that the kids in this area thought oh wow I could probably go to university now,” she said.

Ms Woods said the area has always been a great place to live and was unsurprised of the popularity for families.

“All my kids have loved the whole area,” she said.

“There’s a Facebook page called ‘growing up in ‘Panania, Picnic Point and Padstow’ and the running theme is how great it was growing up in the area and having family there.”

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The post Homeowner nets $1.5m windfall following huge change in her suburb appeared first on realestate.com.au.

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