Cloverdale, WA 6105Home loan and property guide

Cloverdale location and character

Cloverdale is located 10 kilometres east of Perth's central business district in the City of Belmont, adjoining Belmont, Kewdale, Redcliffe and the grounds of Perth Airport. Its position places it within the inner-eastern ring, close to both the city and the airport.

The name came from Cloverdale Park and the Cloverdale Estate, a subdivision in the area advertised for sale in 1910. It was officially recognised as a suburb name in 1954, so the name predates formal recognition by more than four decades.

The suburb is predominantly residential, which distinguishes it from neighbouring Belmont, where a substantial western portion is industrial and commercial. Its proximity to the airport is the most significant environmental factor for buyers.

Transport and amenity in Cloverdale

There is no railway station in Cloverdale. Redcliffe station on the Airport line lies about 10.8 kilometres from Perth by rail, immediately north-east, and Airport Central about 13.5 kilometres, both reached by bus or car. The Airport line is a branch of the Midland line running underground between Bayswater and High Wycombe via Perth Airport.

Transperth buses serve Great Eastern Highway, Belmont Avenue and the surrounding streets, connecting the suburb to the city, to Redcliffe station and to High Wycombe. By road, Great Eastern Highway and Abernethy Road are the principal routes, with Tonkin Highway a short distance east.

Belmont Forum, a short distance west, is the district shopping centre, and local shops serve daily needs. Schools operate in the suburb and its neighbours, and this guide does not describe school catchments, which the Department of Education or the school concerned can confirm.

Housing stock in Cloverdale

Cloverdale combines older detached houses from the suburb's mid twentieth-century development with substantial townhouse and villa unit infill on subdivided lots, together with a modest apartment component. The result is a suburb with more variety of dwelling type than its detached-house reputation suggests.

At the 2021 Census, 2,513 of the 3,402 occupied private dwellings were separate houses, 669 were semi-detached or townhouse dwellings and 197 were flats or apartments, so houses made up 73.9 per cent of occupied homes against 72.3 per cent nationally, while attached dwellings accounted for 19.7 per cent against 12.6 per cent. Three-bedroom homes numbered 1,676 and four-bedroom homes 767.

The Census also recorded 431 unoccupied private dwellings out of 3,830 on Census night. Inspections vary with stock: older houses raise roof condition, cracking associated with ground movement, original services and asbestos-containing materials, while strata dwellings raise levies and common property condition.

Who lives and buys in Cloverdale

The 2021 Census counted 8,864 residents in Cloverdale, with a median age of 34 against 38 for Australia and an average household size of 2.4 people compared with 2.5 nationally. Adults aged 25 to 34 were the largest group at 1,774, followed by 1,345 aged 35 to 44 and 1,032 aged 45 to 54.

Renting leads. The Census recorded 1,469 rented dwellings, 1,062 owned with a mortgage and 736 owned outright, so 44.4 per cent of households with a stated tenure rented, 32.1 per cent had a mortgage and 22.2 per cent owned outright, against 30.6, 35.0 and 31.0 per cent nationally.

Median weekly household income was $1,520 against $1,746, median monthly mortgage repayments were $1,700 against $1,863 and median weekly rent was $340 against $375. For a buyer, this is an accessible inner-eastern market drawing first home buyers and investors, where the townhouse stock provides entry points below the price of a detached house.

Planning, the airport and local factors in Cloverdale

Development is controlled by the City of Belmont's local planning scheme together with the Residential Design Codes, which set density coding for each lot. The volume of townhouse infill indicates coding supports subdivision in parts of the suburb, so buyers considering it should confirm the position for a specific address.

Perth Airport lies immediately east, and aircraft noise is the most significant environmental factor here. The airport publishes noise exposure information and Airservices Australia manages noise enquiries and publishes flight tracks. Exposure varies across the suburb depending on runway alignment and flight paths, so buyers may wish to review that material and visit at different times of day and week.

Because aircraft movements at a major airport occur at night as well as during the day, a single daytime inspection may not reflect the experience of living at a particular address. That is worth weighing before making an offer, since a Western Australian contract binds on acceptance.

Buying in Cloverdale under Western Australian contract law

Established houses in Western Australia are normally sold by offer and acceptance. Consumer Protection WA explains that the signed form becomes a binding contract once the seller accepts, and that there is no mandatory cooling-off period, so conditions for finance approval and for building and timber pest inspections need to be written into the offer before signing.

There is no mandatory seller disclosure statement in Western Australia, which matters where aircraft noise is concerned, since the seller is under no general obligation to volunteer it. Independent enquiries are therefore important. Transfer duty is assessed by RevenueWA, and the stamp duty calculator on this site gives a general estimate.

Home loan considerations for Cloverdale property

Detached houses and townhouses on standard titles are accepted security, and the volume of similar stock supports valuation. Where a property sits within a mapped aircraft noise exposure area, a valuer may comment on the effect relative to otherwise similar houses further from the flight path, though it does not usually affect acceptability as security.

Strata levies on the townhouse and apartment stock are counted in serviceability assessments and reduce borrowing power. With renting at 44.4 per cent, investment lending is common and assessed on different terms, and with median household income below the national figure serviceability is often the binding constraint for owner-occupiers.

Lending considerations for Cloverdale

• Perth Airport lies immediately east, and aircraft noise is the most significant environmental factor here.
• Aircraft movements occur at night as well as during the day, so a single daytime inspection may mislead.
• There is no mandatory seller disclosure statement in Western Australia, so noise is unlikely to be volunteered.
• Strata levies on the townhouse stock are counted in serviceability assessments.
• Renting at 44.4 per cent means investment lending is common and assessed on different terms.

Lender policy differs between institutions and changes over time. The guide to Australian lenders explains how credit policy varies, and the home loan guide sets out the main loan structures.