Latest news with #MelbourneSuburbs
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Melbourne buyers warned as auction market heats up
Melbourne's winter auction market is bucking the seasonal trend, with fresh data and renewed buyer confidence pointing to a heatwave beneath the surface of a cooling calendar. There are 952 homes set to go under the hammer across the city this weekend, a 14 per cent drop from the same time last year. Another 941 auctions are already scheduled for next week, down just 9 per cent, in what experts say is a far softer seasonal dip than usual. Bachelor couple eyeing $6m+ payday REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh said while the auction volume is lower, market conditions have flipped — and buyers are back in force. 'Melbourne led the country for monthly price growth in May,' Ms Creagh said. 'It's clear confidence has returned, and interest rate cuts in February and May have lifted borrowing capacity and encouraged buyers to move quickly.' Home prices rose 0.79 per cent in May according to PropTrack, the strongest monthly gain of any capital city. Melbourne's dwelling values are still 2.85 per cent below their previous peak, but Ms Creagh said the city's underperformance over the past five years, just 17.6 per cent growth since March 2020 compared to 60 per cent nationally, now gave it a competitive edge. 'Relative affordability is drawing buyers back in,' she said. 'That's why activity is holding firm even during what's typically a slower time of year.' Suburbs with the most auctions this weekend include Reservoir, 24 auctions, Mount Waverley, 19, Richmond, 15, Craigieburn, 14, and Wollert, 13. Ni Advocacy director and buyers advocate Kevin Ni said savvy buyers were shifting focus away from cookie-cutter stock and honing in on quality, character, and long-term liveability. 'Buyers are far more educated now,' Mr Ni said. 'They're looking for liveability, not oversupplied towers.' 'We've seen people spend six months stuck in limbo because they wouldn't budge on their dream suburb. 'The advice is: be realistic and flexible.' That mindset is driving strong interest across a range of listings this weekend, including a three-bedroom home at 14 Emery Court, Altona, where buyers are lining up for a slice of quiet, beachside living. The peaceful court location, vaulted ceiling, home office and landscaped yard have drawn attention from families and investors alike. The guide is $990,000-$1.08m. In Rowville, more than 100 groups have inspected 2 Moama Place, a renovated home backing onto Waterford Valley Golf Course. The three-bedder features American Oak floors, Bosch appliances, underfloor heating, and even a shed with a kitchenette — and is tipped to fetch $1m –$1.1m. Over in Preston, buyers priced out of Brunswick and Northcote are flocking to 9/26 Tyler Street, a rear townhouse in a boutique complex guided at $600,000 –$650,000. The mix of downsizers and first-home hopefuls has added a competitive edge. At the prestige end of the market, a five-bedroom architectural home at 14 Hunter Street, Kew, is drawing serious interest from families looking to secure a foothold in the private school belt. Behind its striking modern facade are polished concrete floors, a sparkling pool, butler's pantry, Miele appliances and EV charger, with a guide of $3.8m-$4.1m.
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Melbourne suburbs where units save buyers over $1m
Homebuyers can save more than $1m to secure a home in some of Melbourne's most exclusive suburbs if they're willing to give up a backyard. A growing number of buyers are ditching the dream of buying a house to stay in the postcodes they love, with new data revealing just how wide the gap between units and houses has become in these hot spots. New Ray White analysis shows units remain relatively affordable in several of Melbourne's most expensive suburbs, with house to unit median price gaps up to $1.1m in areas such as Hawthorn and Brighton. OpenCorp chief executive Cam McLellan said buyers were becoming more strategic, particularly in high-demand suburbs such as Richmond, East Melbourne and St Kilda East. 'In suburbs like Richmond, Hawthorn and St Kilda East, buyers can save more than $1m by choosing a unit over a house,' Mr McLellan said. 'Stretching for a house only makes sense if it doesn't lead to mortgage stress or missing out on better long-term growth.' But while many buyers were choosing rentvesting as a property strategy and buying a house in an outer suburb while enjoying their inner city lifestyle, they could be better off in the long term purchasing a quality unit, Mr McLellan said. 'Rentvesting gives people lifestyle now and financial security later,' he said. 'It's not about the product, it's about whether the numbers stack up. 'We run detailed cashflow and growth modelling because a quality unit in a proven suburb often outperforms a low-grade house on the fringe.' Ni Advocacy director and buyers' advocate Kevin Ni said the rise in unit interest wasn't just driven by price, it was also about value and livability, especially in older-style buildings. 'We're seeing people avoid the off-the-plan high-rises and instead go for character-filled, boutique blocks with more space and better capital growth,' Mr Ni said. 'Those older-style two-bed units often have bigger living areas, thicker walls, and a stronger owner-occupier presence — which can really help long-term value.' Suburbs like Elwood, Malvern East, Hawthorn, Kew, and Armadale are among those older apartments in low-rise blocks, which can be larger, more open, are in demand, he said. Mr Ni said the house-versus-unit trade-off had become more pronounced in recent years, particularly for young couples determined to live near the city. 'They're prepared to compromise on space to get into locations like Richmond or Hawthorn,' he said. 'For $750,000, you can still buy a two-bedroom apartment in a boutique block near cafes, parks and transport, and buyers are prioritising that.' The Ni Advocacy director said many buyers were now actively avoiding high-rise developments, instead focusing on older-style or boutique blocks with better layouts, more space and long-term value. 'Buyers are far more educated now – they're looking for scarcity and liveability, not cookie-cutter apartments in oversupplied towers,' Mr Ni said. In growth areas such as Doveton, Melton and Hampton Park East, where the house-unit price gap is under $120,000, Mr Ni said some were opting to stretch their budget to secure a house, often with help from parents. 'We've seen people spend six months stuck in limbo because they wouldn't budge on their dream suburb,' he said. 'The advice is be realistic and flexible. Compromise is part of the process now.' Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the appeal of units was only set to grow, particularly as houses in blue-chip postcodes remained out of reach especially for first-home buyers. 'People have been priced out of houses in suburbs like Hawthorn for a long time, but units remain accessible,' Ms Conisbee said. 'It's a trade-off: do I want a big backyard, or am I happy with a smaller home in a better location?' Ms Conisbee said Australia was undergoing a slow cultural shift, from suburban sprawl to inner-city density, but was still coming to terms with the change. 'We still love the idea of having a big house and a lot of land,' she said. 'The reality is household sizes are shrinking and it's much cheaper from an infrastructure perspective to increase density. 'That means more people will need to embrace apartment living, especially if they want to stay in high-demand suburbs.' Ms Conisbee said rising construction costs was helping to improve values for quality units. 'It's becoming harder and more expensive to build new apartments, which is why quality units in desirable locations are actually holding their value, or even outperforming.' Top 10 Melbourne suburbs with the largest house to unit price gaps: Suburb Median House Price Median Unit Price Price Gap Toorak $3,994,669 $1,049,771 $2,944,898 East Melbourne $3,203,726 $875,926 $2,327,800 South Yarra $3,060,336 $833,997 $2,226,339 Brighton $3,123,574 $1,194,140 $1,929,434 Hawthorn $2,488,921 $565,103 $1,923,818 Armadale $2,639,241 $737,493 $1,901,748 Malvern $2,609,420 $726,665 $1,882,755 Kew $2,806,515 $928,098 $1,878,417 Camberwell $2,716,661 $1,005,789 $1,710,872 Albert Park $2,651,151 $961,470 $1,689,681 Source: Ray White Top 10 Melbourne suburbs with the smallest house to unit price gaps: Suburb House Price ($) Unit Price ($) Gap ($) Doveton $574,931 $486,204 $88,727 Melton $523,513 $427,548 $95,965 Melton South $527,685 $427,391 $100,294 Brookfield $564,721 $452,631 $112,090 Kurunjang $556,402 $443,254 $113,148 Hampton Park $622,315 $496,640 $125,675 Sunshine North $704,905 $576,338 $128,567 St Albans $685,020 $551,191 $133,829 Wyndham Vale $639,501 $501,095 $138,406 Harkness $598,723 $454,703 $144,020
News.com.au
08-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Victorian Government at war with NIMBYs over skyscrapers for suburbs plan
Take a long hard look at the suburbs, Melbourne. The eclectic neighbourhoods stitch together like a patchwork to form a vibrant city — one of the most liveable in the world. Soak it in because it will never be the same again. The population is about to explode to London levels. The modest buildings that make up the suburbs will be bulldozed for highrise towers to house residents in shoebox apartments at the expense of character and charm. Traffic congestion will worsen, infrastructure will struggle to keep up and the slide down the liveability index will follow. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says Melbourne will be home to nine million people by 2050. To put that in some important context, the population now is roughly 5.5 million. So an additional 3.5 million people will be added on top in the next 25 years. Do you know how long it took Melbourne to reach an initial population of 3.5 million? It took 165 years. The Federal Government controls immigration and targets are through the roof. As a result, the states are scrambling to provide enough homes for the influx of overseas arrivals and to create a situation where first home buyers are not priced out. The Victorian Government says it will build 2.24 million new affordable homes by 2051. That's 86,000 new homes a year over the next 26 years. But how they get there is controversial and has been met with plenty of backlash. The Allan Labor Government has introduced sweeping overhauls of planning controls that give them the green light to force suburbs to accommodate residential towers with little regard for building height, amenity or impact on the environment. Hundreds of millions of dollars of strategic work carried out by local councils over decades has been overridden as Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approves projects that one expert says will turn quiet neighbourhoods into 'slums'. 'It's disgusting,' said Leith van Onselen, chief economist at and former economist at the Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs. 'Melbourne is already the most unsustainable city in Australia. If you're going to stuff 3.5 million more people in over 25 years, you're going to need to bulldoze people's homes into highrise and get rid of the democratic process. 'If you stuff thousands more people into existing suburbs, you can't recreate the green space and parks. You consolidate a groups of blocks with backyards into highrise. It means more traffic, more cars, more overcrowding everywhere. You're going to end up creating a slum. 'Get used to it. There is no other future.' Councils pushing back against skyscraper for suburbs plan In Greensborough, 17km northeast of the Melbourne CBD, there's uproar over a plan to add a 17-storey highrise apartment tower to its main street — significantly higher than the tallest existing building. The tower was last month ticked off by the Planning Minister under the newly-minted Development Facilitation Program (DFP) — one that removes local councils from the approval process altogether. Decisions made by the minister under the DFP cannot be appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). A Banyule Council spokesperson told the council had no formal role in assessing the application, had limited opportunity to provide comment and had concerns ignored about building height and lack of car parking. Banyule Mayor Elizabeth Nealy said the Victorian Government must work closer with councils and the community on projects of this scale. 'We understand and share the community's frustration at the lack of consultation. This is a significant proposal for Greensborough, and is another example of local planning decisions not being made by locals,' she said. Almost 1000 people have signed a petition against the building, declaring it 'would not only change the character and landscape of Greensborough but could potentially strain our local resources and infrastructure'. But a Victorian Government spokesperson told the tower is going ahead 'exactly where more homes should go — right on the main street, next to the train station, close to Greensborough Plaza, shops, services and jobs'. The spokesperson said that since the start of the year, more than 2000 homes have been approved through the DFP. 'We're fast-tracking social and affordable housing in Greensborough so more Victorians can have access to a safe and secure home,' they said. But in other suburbs, new contests are emerging. In Murrumbeena, 13km southeast of the CBD, an eight-storey development for 110 apartments was pushed through by the minister. Glen Eira City Mayor Simone Zmood said last month that the plan went ahead despite objections from council about sunlight and commuter parking issues. 'Reducing 90 car spaces and losing commuter and short-term car parking will have a significant impact on car parking demand,' she said. It's a similar story in Brunswick, 5km north of the CBD, where the minister approved a project likened to the Great Wall of China a day after the council voted not to support it. The nine-storey tower was granted approval in March. Merri-Bek councillor Sue Bolton said it was 'worse than pathetic' that just 3 per cent of the project was for affordable housing. 'I think this would be a disastrous precedent if the minister agrees to this and it shows (the developer is) thumbing their nose to the community and running off to the minister,' she said. Box Hill, 14km east of the CBD is another example of the minister using powers under the DFP to force a major build on a community that says it will do more than good. Whitehorse City Council objected to a $1.5 billion, seven-tower development last year that will house 1700 apartments over 50 storeys. The plans were fast-tracked using the DFP but Whitehorse Mayor Denise Massoud said council received no response to its objections. But the Premier fired back, questioning why the council would oppose the plan. 'It's probably up to Whitehorse Council to explain to their community why they don't want to provide the opportunity for more residents to live close to such great public transport options,' she said. Shadow Minister for Planning and Housing, Richard Riordan, told the government's sweeping overhaul of planning is a huge problem. 'The Liberals and Nationals support increasing housing supply, but we believe it must be done with respect for the distinct character of Melbourne's suburbs,' he said. 'Local councils and communities must continue to have a say in how their neighbourhoods evolve. Change works best when it's shaped by the people who live there.' He argued the Greensborough project risks repeating the government's 'past planning failures'. 'Just because land sits near a train station doesn't mean it's automatically suitable for high-density towers,' he said. 'Melbourne's suburbs are valued for their unique character; quiet, leafy streets and well-established amenity built over decades. Labor's blanket planning changes risk destroying that fabric, without tackling the real causes of the housing crisis.' 'We got the Liberals hook, line and sinker' The DFP is not the only lever the Allan Government has pulled to drastically overhaul the planning process. It also announced late last year the 60 suburbs where it will seize planning controls to increase housing density. The so-called 'activity centres' include affluent suburbs like South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and Brighton. The aim is to build 300,000 homes across the areas but height limits for the areas have not been specified. Jacinta Allan said it is proof that she is 'a builder, not a blocker'. But Mr Riordan said neighbourhoods would be 'under threat'. 'It's not going to resemble the Melbourne and the city that everyone has loved and has made us one of the most livable cities for a long time,' he said. During a protest against the plans in the bayside suburb of Brighton last October, local Liberal MP James Newbury said '20-storey apartment' towers would pop up in people's streets. A Labor MP told The Guardian they were not surprised by the opposition. 'We got the Liberals hook, line and sinker,' the MP said. 'They responded exactly as we expected them to.'
News.com.au
09-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
PropTrack: See what your suburb will be worth in 2030 – some Melbourne areas set for massive six-figure growth
Family-friendly Melbourne suburbs are projected to lead the city's charge for home price growth, with six-figure bonuses tipped for house values over the next five years. Dozens of areas including Lower Plenty, Diamond Creek, Beaconsfield, Romsey and Mentone are set to outperform blue-chip areas like Toorak within the time frame, based on PropTrack estimates. research arm has calculated the typical home value for each Victorian suburb and town in 2030, if growth follows the same patterns it has within the past half-decade. The data shows Toorak's $4.71m median house price is set to increase by $220,000. But it would be eclipsed by gains of more than $350,000 in medians from Aberfeldie to Hurstbridge. The city's million-dollar club is also expected to swell with more than 50 new suburbs including Taylors Hill, Berwick, Heidelberg Heights, Altona North and Reservoir to be added. Melbourne-based buyers' advocate Emily Wallace said the family-friendly suburbs' growth forecast would reflect a domino effect of people wanting more land moving further from the city. 'I don't necessarily mean first-home buyers, but family home buyers who are happy to go to the suburbs to get the yard for the kids,' Ms Wallace said. She said school zones, crime rates and safety were top of mind for many home seekers. 'There's also a fair amount of people not wanting the areas of the activity growth zones where development could potentially ruin the look and feel of a suburb,' Ms Wallace said. Since last year, the Victorian government has identified more than 60 areas for mid- and high-rise development, many close to train and tram zones, to address the need for more housing with Melbourne's population predicted to hit 6.2 million by 2030-31. Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Jacob Caine said the activity centre plans could make areas like Brighton accessible for buyers who would otherwise be locked out of these markets. 'You can bet that young people out there that have been really struggling to get a foot on the property ladder would absolutely jump at the opportunity to have a little piece of paradise, whether that's in Brighton or Camberwell or Footscray or wherever they would like to live,' Mr Caine said. According to PropTrack, Melbourne's future high-performing suburbs include Lower Plenty where the $1.578m median house value is expected to increase by $887,000 to hit $2.465m. Diamond Creek's $1.1m median is slated to stack $513,000 on to reach $1.613m. Ray White Eltham and Diamond Creek director Shane Leete pointed to a 2019 list of Melbourne's family-friendly suburbs put together by home loan platform Lendi that was topped by Diamond Creek, based on factors including the number of schools, open spaces and crime data. Mr Leete said the suburb experienced massive growth during 2020 to 2022's pandemic lockdowns and then slowed. But February's rate cut and last week's election have boosted confidence in the market. 'But over … the next two to three years prices will be back up to where they were in 2022,' Mr Leete added. Overall, Greater Melbourne's current $855,000 median house price is forecast to hit $1.001m by 2030, lower than Brisbane's $1.54m and Adelaide's $1.474m. PropTrack's economics executive manager Angus Moore said Victoria's capital had not experienced as much growth as Australia's other states within the past five years. 'Part of the story is the fact Melbourne does just build a lot more homes than other parts of the country, particularly out in Melbourne's west,' Mr Moore said. 'The fact that there is more supply has helped to keep housing more affordable.' PropTrack's research, which projected growth based on trends over the past five years, also hinted there could be prices rises along the Mornington Peninsula — however this could have been skewed by the unprecedented boom during the Covid pandemic.
