Regions dominates state house price data

Regional towns and Melbourne’s coastal suburbs are dominating the top spots for house price growth, according to data from Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s March quarterly report.

The top three suburbs for annual median house price growth are in the local government area of Mornington Peninsula.

The suburb of Rye led the house price growth with a 48 per cent annual increase, bringing the median cost of a home in the seaside suburb to $1.195 million.

Mount Martha saw a 34 per cent annual increase taking its median house price up to $1.870 million, while its upcoast neighbour Rosebud grew 32 per cent to $851,121.

In regional Victoria the average house price grew by 3.8 per cent over the March quarter to $625,000, while apartments were up 1.9 per cent to $410,500.

Year-on-year that works out to a 26.7 per cent average increase for houses, while apartments saw a 16.5 per cent jump.

“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,” said REIV president Adam Docking.

“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”.

However, metropolitan Melbourne still has plenty on offer for different budgets.

Units in inner-city suburbs such as Docklands and Melbourne CBD are ranking in the top 20 quarterly growth suburbs while recording median prices under the $600,000 mark.

Houses in Melbourne’s traditionally more affordable suburbs have also reported strong annual growth.

The median house price in Werribee grew 18.7 per cent to $620,000, while Sunbury saw a 16.8 per cent spike to $652,500.

“As expected the report shows the metropolitan housing market is stabilising but the fundamentals remain strong,” Mr Docking said.

While the quarterly data reported a 0.3 per cent drop in metro house prices to $1.121 million and a 0.9 per cent decrease in units and apartments  to $684,000, the annual median house price rose 18 per cent from $932,500 to $1.1 million in the last twelve months.

Mr Docking emphasised that despite the stabilisation starting to be seen across Melbourne, governments, both State and Federal, need to review some of the fundamentals like property taxes that form a significant part of the cost to acquire and maintain a property.