Victoria’s coastal suburbs and regional towns fuelled the state’s price growth over the first quarter of the year.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), house and unit prices across regional markets increased by 3.9% and 1.9% over the quarter.
On the other hand, house and unit prices in Metropolitan Melbourne posted respective declines of 0.3% and 0.9% during the same period.
Regional Victoria also posted stronger gains on an annual basis at 26.7% for houses and 16.5% for units.
Over the year, the top three suburbs that recorded the highest growth in house prices are in the local government area of Mornington Peninsula: Rye, Mount Martha, and Rosebud.
Rye performed the best with a 48% increase in median house price to $1.2m. This was followed by the 34% increase to $1.9m in Mount Martha and the 32% gain to $851,121 in Rosebud.
REIV President Adam Docking said these suburbs were able to help maintain the five-year streak of regional Victoria in terms of price growth.
“The Victorian residential market has recorded strong growth for over two years and as supply catches up with demand, we can expect to see a steadier period,” he said.
“The data reflects the theme of ongoing migration to the regions, as we see more Melburnians seeking out a scenery change in coastal towns and regional cities.
The REIV data showed that there appears to be a stabilisation in Metropolitan Melbourne prices. However, prices remained affordable, particularly for units.
For instance, units in inner-city suburbs such as Docklands ($555,000) and Melbourne CBD ($580,000) ranked in the top 20 quarterly growth suburbs while recording median prices under the $600,000 mark.
Meanwhile, house prices in Werribee and Sunbury remained relatively affordable despite the respective growths of 18.7% to $620,000 and 16.8% to $652,500.
“As expected, the report shows the metropolitan housing market is stabilising but the fundamentals remain strong,” Mr Docking said.
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Photo by @paul-macallan on Unsplash
