The pace of Victoria’s property price decline has slowed, with new data showing values are stabilising.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), the metropolitan Melbourne median house price recorded a marginal drop of 1 per cent in the March quarter, falling to $955,500.
Units recorded a 1.8 per cent fall in the median price to $611,000.
REIV President Andrew Meehan said the Victorian property market was stabilising following the recent price boom and while some uncertainty remains about the impact of interest rate rises, there is positive market activity.
“Despite pressures from the interest rate increases, the market remains robust, particularly in outer ring suburbs, strong demand for housing is likely to continue throughout the rest of the year,” Mr Meehan said.
Houses in regional Victoria once again held strong, nudging down to $602,000 (from $603,000) this quarter, but growing 2.2 per cent, to $608,000, annually.
While units and apartments grew 3.7 per cent to $425,000.
Across the state, Morwell saw the strongest annual growth in the regional suburbs, with a 21.5 per cent jump to $371,250, followed by the border town of West Wodonga (up 21.1 per cent) ringing in at $539,000.
The beachside location of Barwon Heads continued to demonstrate its desirability, with a 15 per cent increase over the year to $1.955 million.
While the treechange location of Stawell saw 18.8 per cent growth to $380,000, followed by Churchill at 12.3 per cent ($378,500).
Both locations saw significant growth, but remain within the top five most affordable suburbs for regional Victoria.
Across Melbourne’s outer suburbs, house prices in Wyndham Vale dropped 4.7 per cent to settle at a median of $552,500 for the March quarter, but recorded 9 per cent growth over 12 months, taking the spot as Melbourne’s top suburb for annual growth.
Other outer suburbs showing strong growth, but well within reach for house hunters, were Tarneit with 3.4 per cent annual growth (to $650,000) and Pakenham, which recorded a 4 per cent jump to $645,500.
Moving into middle Melbourne, Brighton was a standout suburb and dominated as Melbourne’s most expensive for the March 2023 report.
The exclusive hotspot was one of the few locations to see an increase in its median price both quarterly (up 23.2 per cent) to $3.951 million, and annually with a 0.3 per cent increase on houses.
Brighton was also the most expensive for units and apartments recording an 11.8 per cent quarterly jump (to $1.398 million) and 8.5 per cent increase annually.
In contrast to the bay, the leafy suburb of Templestowe rivalled Brighton’s quarterly growth, showing a 23.2 per cent increase to median house price of $1,810,944.
While units and apartments in culture-rich Glen Waverley saw a 22 per cent increase in quarterly medians to $1.22 million.
The REIV Residential Market Index (RMX) which measures the price movement on weekly basis, has rebounded by 8.9 per cent since the start of the year and currently sits at 154.9 – close to levels recorded in mid-2022.
