Geelong and Bendigo shine in ‘balanced’ Victorian market

Metropolitan house prices dropped 1.5 per cent over the three-month period, while metropolitan unit prices decreased by 0.1 per cent.

Looking to the regions, house prices lifted 0.2 per cent while regional unit prices fell 1.4 per cent.

Greater Geelong and Greater Bendigo lead the gains

Honing in on Greater Geelong, a trio of suburbs managed double-digit growth. Little River led the charge, achieving growth of 20 per cent over the quarter to reach a median house price upwards of $1.5 million.

Indented Head’s new median value of $955,000 was a lift of 10.3 per cent, while South Geelong just nudged double-digit growth with a lift of 10.1 per cent to $906,250.

Up in Greater Bendigo, strong quarterly growth was also on show, albeit in more affordable suburbs.

Elmore values lifted 23.9 per cent to $472,000, while Long Gully’s 12.7 per cent growth saw median prices lift to $445,000.

West Melbourne market shines

The one other region to post strong growth and buck the greater trend was the western Melbourne municipalities of Melton and Brimbank, as noted by REIV.

It said four Melton suburbs were among the top suburbs for quarterly growth, listing Rockbank ($682,500), Hillside ($880,000), Melton West ($527,500) and Melton South ($481,000).

While across in Brimbank, Keilor East ($1,079,000), Taylors Lakes ($1,002,000) and St Albans ($670,000) also reported stronger than average growth.

The Melton municipality also took out the crown for Melbourne’s top five most affordable suburbs.

Melton took out the top prize, with an average value of $474,500 over the quarter.

Melton South came in second with a median value of $481,000, and Kurunjang rounded out the top three with a value of $490,000.

Melton West ($527,500) and Brookfield ($550,000) took out the fourth and fifth most affordable Melbourne suburbs, respectively.

A ‘well-balanced’ market

It caps off an interesting year for Victoria’s property market, which REIV president Jacob Caine has described as “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,” he commented.

The REIV flagged middle Melbourne as a standout performer across the entire year, with Eltham spearheading this growth with median house values up 9.4 per cent to $1,300,000.

Glen Waverley also performed strongly, with its median price up by 8.5 per cent to $1,770,500.

Looking to the unit market, Sandringham spiked 25.9 per cent to achieve a median value of $875,000, while Blackburn remained strong, posting 15.8 per cent growth in unit values to $749,975.

Caine said the market was well-balanced for both buyers and sellers, “offering great opportunities for discerning buyers and sellers”.

Such a balance has been bolstered by an improvement in transaction and auction volumes – auctions were up 25.5 per cent while sales volumes were up by more than 10 per cent – to a total 156,550 property sales.

According to REIV CEO Kelly Ryan, these figures spell good news for those who are situated within the market, explaining that the increased volume of transactions “reflects a Victorian real estate market that, despite high interest rates and policy headwinds, remains high in demand”.