Rural Victorian towns on the rise

The skyrocketing housing market in Melbourne over the last few years has seen many buyers forced to look further afield for affordable housing, and its rural Victoria that is set to benefit from this influx of bargain house-hunters.

Families hoping to get more bang for their buck and retirees yearning for a tree change are all helping drive property prices in some regional Victorian towns upward, and government incentives such as stamp duty concessions for regional buyers are fuelling the fire.

According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, house prices in the Melbourne metro area fell 0.6 per cent in the quarter to June 2018, while regional towns enjoyed 4 per cent growth over the same period.

Excellent gains have been made in the Surf Coast region with homeowners in Winchelsea seeing a 21 per cent increase in the value of their properties over the past year – the median in this town on the Barwon River is now $390,000.

In Anglesea, on the gorgeous Great Ocean Road, house prices are up 11 percent over the year to $800,000, while Teesdale, on the outskirts of Geelong, has seen growth of 12 per cent since 2017, with the median house price increasing from $515,000 to $577,500.

Properties in these popular tourist destinations make excellent holiday homes for Melburnians, and can earn their keep as short-term lets on sites such as Airbnb when your family isn’t using them.

In Wonthaggi on the Bass Coast, the median house price is now $312,500 up from $278,500 one year ago – a 12 per cent increase!

Units have gained 6 per cent, up from $249,000 to a new median price of $265,000.

This seaside town is the perfect spot for those who dream of escaping the Melbourne rat race, and is located 132km south-east of the Victorian capital.

The Macedon Ranges has also seen excellent growth, with homes in Kyneton now selling for a median price of $578,500 – up 8 per cent for the quarter, and a massive 19 per cent for the year.

This town is around 83km from the CBD, so you could still commute if you wanted to, and Bendigo and Ballarat aren’t too far away either.

This impressive result is nothing compared to the price growth in Macedon though – a year ago, the median house price here was just $610,000 but today it has increased a huge 33 per cent, to a new median of $815,000 if you were hoping to buy a property in the town from Picnic at Hanging Rock, it just got a whole lot more expensive.

On the Mornington Peninsula, the median house price in Hastings has ballooned to $522,290 up from $430,000 in July 2017 – that’s growth of 21 per cent in 12 months.

Units are also rising rapidly, up from $309,000 a year ago to the current median price of $398,000 an increase of 28 per cent.

Nearby Tyabb has seen price growth of 16 per cent, with houses rising in value from $495,000 12 months ago to $577,500.