This article was originally published by Scott Carbines on Nov 19, 2017 via news.com.au
MELBOURNE’S traditional battler suburbs have blossomed into our property stars.
Frankston North came in third for median house value growth in the most recent 12 month period captured by CoreLogic — rising 38 per cent to $434,183.
Ardeer and Sunshine also featured in the state’s top 10, surging about 30 per cent each to median house values of $537,933 and $744,144 respectively.
And Broadmeadows, Deer Park, South Morang, Seaford and Carrum Downs all featured in Victoria’s top 20 for annual growth performance to July.
The data takes into account all properties in a suburb and is considered a more accurate indicator of the market than median sale prices, which only take into account sales within a certain period.
CoreLogic state director for Victoria Geoff White said investors and homebuyers were looking to more affordable suburbs to get a leg up in the property market.
“They’re looking for properties that are affordable and manageable in terms of repayments and borrowing, the general amenities of the area and in some cases proximity to the city,” he said.
“Between all those reasons that’s why they’re starting to feature.”
Mr White said most of those suburbs were well under the Melbourne median price and buyers were seeking places where they saw potential for future growth.
“You’re seeing little pockets of Melbourne that perhaps have not seen the growth (of other strong performers) over time and what would have been locations less desirable to live in are now becoming very desirable areas,” he said.
“The amenities, the demographics are sometimes changing in these areas, so buyers or potential buyers are seeing that as an opportunity to get in. Sunshine and those sorts of locations are not far from the centre of Melbourne, so that’s a major consideration, too.”
Hocking Stuart, Frankston, director Aaron Froling said the Frankston North market had “levelled out” after its hectic boom.
“The popularity of Frankston North was just overwhelming how it shot up this year,” he said.
“It’s always been a bit of an unwanted area, and we had clientele paying whatever to get in there … we are now experiencing a normal, balanced and healthy market.”
Mr Froling said affordability and proximity to the beach were the main drawcards of the suburb.
Blue-chip Melbourne postcodes continued to perform strongly, too, with Middle Park and St Kilda top of the list with growth of 48.3 per cent and 38.6 per cent respectively.
Realestate.com.au chief executive Nerida Conisbee said there was always going to be strong demand for these types of suburbs.
“Although we talk about housing affordability, there’s still a lot of people with a lot of money and that strong price growth in those areas certainly reflects that,” she said.
VICTORIA’S TOP PERFORMING SUBURBS FOR MEDIAN HOUSE VALUE GROWTH
Suburb, annual percentage growth to median house value, median house value
1. Middle Park, 48.3%, $2,585,585
2. St Kilda, 38.6%, $1,299,331
3. Frankston North, 38%, $434,183
4. Highett, 35.3%, $1,326,542
5. Elwood, 32.3%, $1,807,168
6. Malvern, 31.6%, $2,782,191
7. Ardeer, 30.6%, $537,933
8. Sunshine, 30.2%, $744,144
9. Hawthorn, 28.1%, $2,461,493
10. Kew East, 27.9%, $2,221,519
11. Balnarring, 27.8%, $749,766
12. Seaford, 26.6%, $664,897
13. Broadmeadows, 25.9%, $484,779
14. Deer Park, 25.7%, $503,372
15. South Morang, 25.7%, $607,368
16. Williamstown, 25.4%, $1,471,082
17. McCrae, 25.1%, $776,289
18. Healesville, 24.9%, $525,667
19. Nunawading, 24.5%, $651,833
20. Carrum Downs, 24.5%, $480,636
Source: CoreLogic, 12 months to July