Geelong shows market rebound as top 10 national best buys revealed

With plenty of angst amongst investors and home buyers in the property market, there is some good news from Hotspotting that see some positive shine in 10 regions they have recently highlighted as best buys, with Geelong making the list.

According to the latest Hotspotting Top 10 National Best Buys report, property markets around the nation have rebounded with affordable capital city locations and major regional areas offering solid homebuying and investment opportunities.

The report, produced by Hotspotting, analyses regions across the nation to reveal what areas are primed for superior capital growth.

The research includes assessments on economic and property fundamentals such as infrastructure, employment nodes, urban renewal as well as lifestyle and interstate migration factors.

The Top 10 National Best Buys feature three locations in Queensland and Western Australia, two in Victoria, and one each in New South Wales and South Australia.

Hotspotting Director Terry Ryder said price data in the first seven months of the year had turned increasingly positive as property markets rebounded.

“It’s important to note that the upturn in fortunes occurred long before the RBA decisions in July and August to pause its increases to the official interest rate.

“Just as the decline in major markets like Sydney and Brisbane started well before the first interest rate rise in May 2022.

“This is because there are greater influences on property market outcomes than the level of interest rates.”

The report shows that the City of Geelong made the list based on:

• Strong population growth
• Economic diversification
• $1 billion Defence Force contract
• Port of Geelong expansion
• $4 billion Geelong Fast Rail
• $294 million Convention Centre
• $2 billion Armstrong Creek project
• Avalon Airport upgrade

Geelong’s median house price in February 2023 was 34 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to PropTrack.

This was a $213,000 increase on the city’s 2020 median house price of $580,000.

The autumn and winter 2023 editions of The Price Predictor Index found Geelong had continued to attract significant buyer demand.

Hotspotting attributed this to the LGA’s strong economy and its affordable prices, relative to Melbourne.

Hotspotting general manager Tim Graham said that recovery was the underlying theme in the Winter 2023 edition, with previously declining suburbs now showing stronger sales activity.

“Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and the suburb of Geelong were all rising markets. Both Armstrong Creek and Geelong were included on the National Top 75 Supercharged Suburbs list for their strong growth patterns.

“Greater Geelong was named on the National Top 10 Municipalities list in the Winter 2023 report.”

This data shows Greater Geelong is a steady, highly consistent market that continues to see solid demand in 2023.

Many suburbs continued to have busy markets, with Lara, Highton, Ocean Grove, Corio, Armstrong Creek, and Grovedale all recording more than 200 annual house sales the report shows.

Newcomb, Corio, Norlane, and Whittington offer the area’s lowest prices, with Norlane recording a median house price of $460,000 and Corio $510,000.

Many Geelong suburbs have capital growth rates averaging about 10 per cent per year for the past decade – while Barwon Heads, Indented Head and Queenscliff averaged 13 to 14 per cent per year.

Mr Ryder said that while national house prices may have dropped four per cent in the year to July, according to CoreLogic, many of the best buys’ locations identified 12 months ago had recorded double-digit growth since that time.

Their report a year ago featured the City of Onkaparinga in South Australia as the number one pick, followed by Toowoomba in Queensland and the City of Rockingham in Western Australia.

Mr Ryder said those who bought the median-priced house in suburbs in those locations could have achieved capital growth of more than $100,000 in the past 12 months.

The Hotspotting Top 10 National Best Buys:

• City of Geelong, VIC
• City of Stirling, WA
• Toowoomba, QLD
• Greater Geraldton, WA
• City of Salisbury, SA
• Inner West NSW
• Brisbane Olympic
• Precinct, QLD
• City of Townsville QLD
• City of Hume VIC
• City of Belmont, WA