MAY 23, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
In toon with a hydro girl
(Joe Mastroianni)
Sarah Renehan has a thick mop of dark brown hair. Often she dons a big, loose-fitting beanie – and together the head gear and her hair do a perfect job of hiding the deep scars on the base of her skull. Complications during her birth led to Sarah being born with hydrocephalus, also known as water on the brain. The Kings Park resident, 30, underwent a series of operations as a child. The operations left her with a tube, medically known as a shunt, in her ventricle to drain the excess fluid. Generally the shunt does its job, but sometimes it gets blocked. “When it stops working it’s vomiting, loss of vision, seizures, migraines – it’s not nice,” she said. She said many people were unaware of the condition. So she and her brother, John, have created a comic book series about Hydro Girl, a young superheroine with hydrocephalus with special powers. They’ve just released their second comic and they hope its sales will raise money for hydrocephalus research, treatment and prevention. To purchase: sarahrenehan.wixsite. com/hydrogirlofficial/store Alexandra Laskie
St Albans prices soar By Alexandra Laskie House prices in St Albans have jumped almost 26 per cent in a year, with the proportion of auction sales on the rise as well. The suburb is performing stronger than others within a 20-kilometre radius of the CDB. Like St Albans, Altona is 13 kilometres from the city, but median house prices in the bay side suburb are up 15.1 per cent, while in Altona Meadows, which is 17 kilometres from the city centre, prices are up by just 3.4 per cent. As of March this year, the median house price in St Albans was $600,000.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Joseph Walton said the St Albans’ property market was performing strongly, with a clearance rate of 75 per cent and 94 auctions in the 12-month period to March this year. “Auction sales are up 56 per cent on the same period last year, while auction volumes are up 45 per cent over the same period,” Mr Walton said. He said the suburb was likely to experience further growth this year. “Particularly as its median house price remains well below the $961,000 median for homes within 20 kilometres of the city.
“Given its proximity to the city, St Albans continues to offer affordability and value for money within Melbourne’s middle ring. “We’re seeing strong buyer demand for affordable opportunities around the $600,000 price barrier and St Albans provides an entry point to the market with the added benefit of being only 15 kilometres from the city.” Melbourne’s north-west had experienced significant growth in the past year, with buyers increasingly looking at new growth areas, Mr Walton said. Neighbouring suburbs have also witnessed a jump in median house prices, with Albion
houses up 24.3 per cent to $715,000 and Sunshine houses up 16.2 per cent to $777,500. Sunshine real estate agency Douglas Kay co-director Adrian Kay, said three significant sales this year had pushed up St Albans’ median house price. The properties, in Alfrieda Street, were purchased by an interstate investor. One of them, a 1960s house at 80 Alfrieda Street, set a new price record for the suburb when it sold for $1.81 million in February. “An investor from Sydney paid that type of money to get properties in a high activity centre to possibly build something big there down the track,” Mr Kay said.
Harvey Norman Bedding Watergardens I Special liftout on page 44