In a quarter that saw minimal house and unit price movement across Victoria, Melbourne’s western suburbs, Greater Geelong and Greater Bendigo have led quarterly growth whilst offering affordable options for buyers.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s latest median prices for the quarter ending 30th June 2024, Victoria’s metropolitan house prices fell 1.5 per cent and metropolitan units saw a 0.1 per cent decrease over the quarter. Meanwhile, regional houses rose 0.2 per cent and regional units fell 1.4 per cent in the same period.
Three suburbs in Greater Geelong saw double digit growth, including Little River ($1,505,000) up 20.4 per cent, Indented Head ($955,000) up 10.3 per cent and South Geelong ($906,250) also up 10.1 per cent. The quarter also saw solid price gains for other Geelong suburbs with Drysdale up 5.9 per cent to $745,000 and Bell Post Hill up 2.7 per cent to $667,500.
Greater Bendigo was another regional centre that saw strong quarterly growth whilst remaining affordable, with Elmore climbing 23.9 per cent to $472,000 and Long Gully rising 12.7 per cent to $445,000. Both Golden Square and White Hills climbed 4.0 per cent to $520,000, while Lockwood South climbed 2.1 per cent to $970,000.
Meanwhile in the west of Melbourne, the municipalities of Melton and Brimbank outperformed the market. Four Melton suburbs were among the top twenty for quarterly price growth, including Rockbank ($682,500), Hillside ($880,000), Melton West ($527,500) and Melton South ($481,000).
Melbourne’s top five most affordable suburbs were also in Melton, with Melton ($474,500) emerging as the most affordable, followed by Melton South ($481,000), Kurunjang ($490,000), Melton West ($527,500) and Brookfield ($550,000).
In Brimbank, Keilor East ($1,079,000), Taylors Lakes ($1,002,000) and St Albans ($670,000) were among the top twenty metro suburbs for quarterly house price growth.
Looking at financial year (FY) 2024, middle Melbourne stood out for its annual price gains. Examples of this growth include Eltham rising 9.4 per cent with its median house price hitting $1,300,000 whilst Glen Waverley was up 8.5 per cent to $1,770,500. On the unit market, we saw Sandringham rising by 25.9 per cent to $875,000, followed by Blackburn with an impressive 15.8 per cent increase to $749,975.
Throughout FY 2024, both transaction volumes and auction volumes increased on the previous year. This year saw 39,110 auctions, a 25.5 per cent increase compared to 31,155 in FY 2023. Overall 156,550 properties were sold, a 10.8 per cent increase on FY 2023 for a total of 141,341.
Jacob Caine, REIV President, said the market was well balanced for both buyers and sellers.
“While overall price movement was minimal throughout the year, each suburb and town has varied greatly in performance. We saw pockets of high price growth across both Melbourne and regional Victoria as well as pockets of improving affordability. The market conditions are well balanced, in turn offering great opportunities for discerning buyers and sellers.”
REIV CEO Kelly Ryan added that, “The increased volume of transactions reflects a Victorian real estate market that, despite high interest rates and policy headwinds, remains high in demand.”
