Belair vs Colonel Light GardensTwo Adelaide suburbs compared for a home loan
Belair (SA 5052) is approximately 12 km south-east of the Adelaide CBD, at the base of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Colonel Light Gardens (SA 5041) is approximately 7 km south of the Adelaide CBD, either side of Goodwood Road. At the 2021 Census, Belair had 4,718 residents with a median age of 47, and Colonel Light Gardens had 3,311 residents with a median age of 42.
In both suburbs the most common occupied dwelling was separate houses. Flats and apartments made up 1% of occupied dwellings in Belair and 3% in Colonel Light Gardens, while 8% of Belair households rented compared with 12% in Colonel Light Gardens. These differences matter for finance, because lenders assess apartments, strata buildings and houses on land differently.
Both suburbs are in the same state, so transfer duty is calculated on the same scale and the difference in upfront cost comes from the purchase price. The panel below applies that scale, and an estimate of lenders mortgage insurance, to the prices you enter.
SA 5052 · Adelaide foothills
Belair
Belair is a foothills suburb beside South Australia's oldest national park, with large houses, a rail terminus and mapped bushfire exposure.
City of Mitcham and Adelaide Hills Council. Approximately 12 km south-east of the Adelaide CBD, at the base of the Mount Lofty Ranges.
Read the full Belair guideSA 5041 · Adelaide's inner south
Colonel Light Gardens
Colonel Light Gardens is a State Heritage Area of 1920s bungalows in the City of Mitcham, where separate houses make up more than nine in ten homes.
City of Mitcham. Approximately 7 km south of the Adelaide CBD, either side of Goodwood Road.
Read the full Colonel Light Gardens guide
What buying in Belair and Colonel Light Gardens would mean for the loan
The difference between two suburbs is usually a difference in price, and price drives the deposit, the transfer duty, any lenders mortgage insurance and the repayment. Enter the prices you are seeing and the panel works out each of those for Belair and Colonel Light Gardens.
Your prices and deposit
Enter the price you are seeing in each suburb. BorrowWise does not quote prices, so the comparison uses yours.
Enter a price for Belair to see the repayment, transfer duty and upfront cash.
Enter a price for Colonel Light Gardens to see the repayment, transfer duty and upfront cash.
Warning: The interest rate used here is an example only. It is not a comparison rate and is not a rate offered by any lender, and it does not include fees and charges. Different rates, terms, fees or loan amounts will give a different result.
Estimates only. Repayments assume a principal and interest loan at a constant rate, which is an assumption and not a current market rate. Transfer duty is indicative for established homes, first home buyer relief depends on eligibility, and upfront cash includes an allowance of $3,000 for conveyancing and inspections. Lenders mortgage insurance is an estimate and is added to the loan. A lender makes its own assessment.
Belair and Colonel Light Gardens: Census profile compared
Figures are from the 2021 Census, so rents, repayments and incomes have moved since. They are most useful for comparing one suburb with another and with Australia as a whole.
| Measure | Belair | Colonel Light Gardens |
|---|---|---|
| People and households | ||
| Residents | 4,718 | 3,311 |
| Median ageAustralia 38 | 47 | 42 |
| Average household sizeAustralia 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| Median household income, weeklyAustralia $1,746 | $2,265 | $2,491 |
| Housing costs at the 2021 Census | ||
| Median rent, weeklyAustralia $375 | $376 | $400 |
| Median mortgage repayment, monthlyAustralia $1,863 | $2,100 | $2,173 |
| Who owns and who rents | ||
| Households rentingAustralia 31% | 8% | 12% |
| Owned with a mortgageAustralia 35% | 44% | 46% |
| Owned outrightAustralia 31% | 41% | 42% |
| Types of home | ||
| Separate housesAustralia 72% | 89% | 91% |
| Townhouses, terraces and semi-detachedAustralia 13% | 10% | 5% |
| Flats and apartmentsAustralia 14% | 1% | 3% |
| Homes with two bedrooms or fewer | 16% | 14% |
| Homes with four bedrooms or more | 46% | 37% |
| Dwellings unoccupied on Census night | 5% | 4% |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census (CC BY 4.0). Tenure shares exclude households that did not state their tenure. Dwelling shares are of occupied private dwellings.
Home loan considerations in Belair and Colonel Light Gardens
Lenders treat houses on land, townhouses and apartments differently, and some apply extra conditions to small apartments, high-density buildings or particular postcodes. These are the points each guide raises.
Belair
- Upgraders
- Downsizers
- First home buyers
- Building insurance in mapped bushfire areas can differ in price and terms from the plains, and lenders require cover in place at settlement.
- A Bushfire Attack Level assessment drives construction standards for new work, and Ministerial Building Standard MBS008 applies in designated areas.
- Habitable development in higher bushfire hazard areas is referred to the CFS, which has 30 business days to respond on residential applications.
- Sloping, vegetated blocks vary widely in usable land and access, so valuations are less predictable than on level ground.
- Renovation lending depends on approvals and the assessed bushfire level being reflected in the building contract before an as-if-complete valuation.
Colonel Light Gardens
- Upgraders
- First home buyers
- Downsizers
- Every property sits within a State Heritage Area, so alterations and additions are referred to the Minister responsible for the Heritage Places Act 1993 before approval.
- Renovation and construction lending depends on approvals being in place, because the lender values the property on an as-if-complete basis.
- Unapproved or unsympathetic past alterations can affect both valuation and what a new owner is permitted to retain.
- Auction is common in tightly held owner-occupier suburbs, and South Australian auction purchases carry no cooling-off period or finance condition.
- Century-old housing raises inspection items such as salt damp, footings on reactive clay soils and original wiring, which can affect lending and insurance.
Housing stock in Belair and Colonel Light Gardens compared
Belair
- Large detached houses
- Separate houses numbered 1,508 at the 2021 Census, 89.0 per cent of occupied homes, many on sloping and vegetated blocks.
- Four and five bedroom family homes
- At the 2021 Census, 601 dwellings had four bedrooms and 173 had five or more, so stock is large by national standards.
- Semi-detached and townhouse dwellings
- Only 162 were counted at the 2021 Census, and they are the main option for buyers seeking something smaller.
- Flats and apartments
- Just nine were recorded at the 2021 Census, so apartment living is effectively unavailable in the suburb.
Colonel Light Gardens
- 1920s bungalows
- Single-storey brick and render houses of the mid 1920s workingman's idiom derived from the Californian Bungalow; the dominant form throughout the suburb.
- Thousand Homes Scheme houses
- The suburb holds the majority of dwellings built under the 1920s mass housing programme that gave it its early identity.
- Semi-detached and townhouse dwellings
- Only 58 were counted at the 2021 Census, so attached housing is a small part of the market.
- Flats and apartments
- Just 35 were counted at the 2021 Census, mostly in small older groups near the suburb's edges.
Official sale price and rent figures for Belair and Colonel Light Gardens
Only figures published free of charge by a government agency are shown. Where none is published the space is left empty rather than filled with an estimate. Each guide charts the full series.
Belair
No government agency publishes a free median sale price or rent series for Belair, so none is shown. A broker can supply recent comparable sales for a specific property as part of a free assessment.
Colonel Light Gardens
No government agency publishes a free median sale price or rent series for Colonel Light Gardens, so none is shown. A broker can supply recent comparable sales for a specific property as part of a free assessment.
Transport, schools and amenities in Belair and Colonel Light Gardens
Belair
Transport
- Belair Station (train)
- Adelaide Metro buses (bus)
- Belair Road (road)
- Sheoak Road (road)
- Upper Sturt Road (road)
Schools and campuses
- Belair Primary School (primary, government)
Amenities
- Belair National Park
- Old Government House
- State Flora nursery
- Belair National Park tennis courts and ovals
Colonel Light Gardens
Transport
- Adelaide Metro buses (bus)
- Mitcham Station (train)
- Torrens Park Station (train)
- Goodwood Road (road)
- Springbank Road (road)
Schools and campuses
- Colonel Light Gardens Primary School (primary, government)
Amenities
- Reade Park
- Mortlock Park
- Colonel Light Gardens RSL Sub-Branch
- Goodwood Road shops
School listings show name, level and sector only. Enrolment areas change, so confirm eligibility for a specific address with the school or the South Australia education department.
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