Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo most likely to sell property in Victoria
Greater Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo are the only areas in regional Victoria that have seen, on average, more than a thousand house sales per year over the last five years, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV).
It said that dividing those sales into twenty quarter-years, in Geelong just two quarters of the twenty saw sales hit 30 per cent of the annual. Bendigo had just one while Ballarat had none.
In the next sales level down, where the annual house sales averaged at least 400 per year, there was wider variation.
Surf Coast had three quarters where sales were 30 per cent or more of annual, while Bass Coast and East Gippsland had two, La Trobe, Macedon Ranges and Wellington had one each and Mildura and Baw Baw had none.
Only four of these municipalities had a quarter where the share of annual sales fell below 20 per cent of the annual.
REIV CEO, Gil King, said that in areas regarded as more seasonal properties have been tightly held.
“In Alpine, two June quarters and one September quarter over the five years were above the 30 per cent of annual, while none dipped below 20 per cent,” he said.
“In the Mansfield region, where sales have averaged just over 60 per year, there have been seven 30-plus and three 20-minus quarters.”
Mr King said that the most stable sales occurred in Ballarat and Baw Baw.
“This is where the difference across five years was the smallest between the busiest and slowest quarters,” he said.
“These were followed by Mildura, Greater Bendigo and Hepburn. In these and some other areas, it seems that supply drives sales more than the seasons do. By contrast, ebbs and flows were more apparent in those places where sales were minimal.”