Region dominates medians

REIV’s Quarterly Median House Price sales data for the three months ended March 31, 2018 reveal that suburbs in the City of Greater Geelong region again dominate the state’s most expensive regional towns, with just three of the top 10 list outside that municipality: Torquay, on the nearby Surf Coast, and Woodend and Gisborne in the Macedon Ranges.

Median house prices in Barwon Heads rose 6.1 per cent to $900,000, ensuring that locale remained Victoria’s most expensive regional one.

Price growth there in the quarter outstripped that of the Melbourne metropolitan area, where the house median sale was $855,000 after growth of 4.4 per cent.

Myrtleford enjoyed the greatest surge in median house price (up 9.4 per cent to $295,000) and was one of five locations where prices rose by eight per cent or more. The others were Strathdale (8.8 per cent to $416,000), Corio (8.7 percent to $310,000), Norlane (8.2 per cent to $330,000, representing annual growth of 34 per cent) and the popular Woodend (8 per cent to $696,000).

Ocean Grove has regional Victoria’s most expensive apartments and units, with the median price jumping 11.1 per cent in the quarter to touch the $700,000 mark. This is well in excess of the median unit and apartment price in metro Melbourne of $607,000 (up 2.4 per cent for the quarter). Median apartment prices across Melbourne have risen by 8.8 per cent over the past year, dwarfed by a 27.3 per cent increase in the Ocean Grove apartment median over the same period.

Highest sales volumes were spread across the state. In Mildura, there were 544 houses and 121 units sold in the three months, putting the Sunraysia city at the head of both lists. Cities in the Gippsland region also saw plenty of sales activity, with Traralgon, Morwell, Warragul and Drouin all topping 250 house sales. For more information on median house prices by town or region, visit reiv.com.au/market-insights.