It looks like the Melbourne’s limelight has been stolen by a neighbouring city and suburbs, as Independent property valuation and advisory firm Herron Todd White’s October issue of Month In Review revealed that Geelong and Newton saw strong demand coming from a niche market.
While Melbourne began to weaken over the first half of 2018, Geelong remains one of the outstanding property markets in the country. Herron Todd White said that the city performed best among capital cities and major regional markets.
A recent CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index supported this claim, which saw that home values in Geelong for both houses and units alike increased 11.8% over 2017 to $564,847.
Established inner-city residential locations such as Geelong West, Drumcondra, East Geelong and Newtown, meanwhile, registered strong results brought about by a rise in demand for both dwellings that required an entire rebuild and those that have already undergone high-end luxury transformations.
Because the areas are often restricted by heritage overlays and neighbourhood residential zoning – which may reduce higher density development in order to preserve the neighbourhood streetscape – these kinds of agreement usually require a lot of work from the sellers.
The good news? Vendors willing to do the renovation are able to reap the fruits of their labour at the time of sale, thanks to high buyer demand for properties equipped with all the modern luxuries and the elegance of a period home.
For instance, the house at 25 Elizabeth Street, Geelong West was purchased in 2017 for $580,000, but recently resold for whooping $1.3 million after a massive renovation that transformed the interior whilst retaining the elegant Victorian facade.
Comparing to other suburbs, Melbourne’s outer south-western suburbs such as Werribee, Point Cook, Tarneit, Truganina and Wyndham Vale did not seem to be as keen on renovations. This, perhaps, was a result of the abundance of developing greenfield estates that surround the area where building an affordable new home may be a more attractive option than renovation.
