27/10/2014
Melbourne’s median house price moderates in the latest quarter
# 18 October 2014
Melbourne's median house price has stabilised in the quarter to 30 September, however sought-after suburbs continued to increase in price, the REIV said today.
REIV chief executive officer Enzo Raimondo said that following the 2.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter and the increase in auction numbers, the median house price had now moderated.
Mr Raimondo said REIV's median house price data shows that on 30 September, the city's $649,000 median house price remained the same as at the end of the financial year. The median apartment price was up slightly – 1.2 per cent over the September quarter – to $503,000.
"But price growth was variable across the city, according to buyer demand," Mr Raimondo said. “A number of suburbs saw significant increases, especially Melbourne’s middle suburbs.”
Mr Raimondo said that the middle Melbourne median house price of $727,000 was up 1.5 per cent and the apartment median for those suburbs, $551,000, was up 4.7 per cent.
He added that the trend was reflected in particularly strong results in Melbourne’s north and east.
Coburg, to which buyers have turned after being priced out of Fitzroy North, Northcote and Thornbury, was up 16.7 per cent, with a median house price of $828,750.
And Balwyn, highly sought after for its access to desirable schools, was also up 16.3 per cent, with a median house price of $1,761,500
Other suburbs to show good capital growth this quarter in the middle suburbs were Mount Waverley (12.5 per cent) and Doncaster (11.9 per cent).
In Melbourne’s outer suburbs, growth in Noble Park (14.3 per cent growth) was followed by South Morang (11.7 per cent), Box Hill North (10.9 per cent), Seaford (10.6 per cent), Wantirna South (10.3 per cent), Forest Hill (9.4 per cent) and Craigieburn (9.4 per cent).
"As buyers have been priced out of the higher priced suburbs, they have looked for more affordable options further out, but with infrastructure such as schools and shopping,” Mr Raimondo said.
He added that the increasing popularity of auctions in recent months has been borne out in house prices at auction.
"There were 8165 auctions in Melbourne in the September quarter this year, compared with 7079 in the same quarter last year,” he said.
"This increase was reflected in the results for homes sold ‘under the hammer’, with the median price for auctioned houses rising by 2.2 per cent and for apartments by 1.8 per cent,” Mr Raimondo said.