First published by Scott Carbines, News Corp Australia Network,
A WHOPPING five of Melbourne’s top 10 suburbs for median house price growth in 2015 were in Monash.
And rising house prices helped push the total value of residential property that changed hands in the 12 month period to just short of $4 billion — cementing the municipality as a leading property hot spot.
The authoritative Valuer-General Victoria’s Guide To Property Values 2015 details houses in Hughesdale, Mt Waverley, Syndal, Clayton and Ashwood as among Melbourne’s elite for price growth during the year to December 31.
And three of those broke through the magic $1 million median house price for the first time.
Hughesdale homeowners enjoyed the largest increase across the municipality in 2015, with the median house price in the suburb rising 36 per cent from $856,000 to $1.165 million.
The increase was the third largest across Melbourne during that period, sitting only after the tightly-held suburbs of Ripponlea and Portsea.
Mt Waverley houses were just a touch behind Hughesdale’s growth — their median price grew 34 per cent from $950,000 to $1.269 million.
Syndal, a locality made up of parts of Glen Waverley and Mt Waverley and included in the Valuer-General’s list, already had a seven figure median house price prior to last year.
In 2015, the median price of houses in that area rose 31 per cent to $1.525 million.
Clayton homeowners benefited from a 30 per cent increase to $978,000.
Meanwhile, the median house price in Ashwood rose 29 per cent to $1.14 million.
Barry Plant Monash director Mitch Palmer said he was not surprised to see Monash suburbs dominate the top end of Melbourne’s list of booming postcodes in 2015.
“We could clearly see the growth. It was quite evident throughout 2015, or at least for the first three quarters, it was the strongest year in the history of Monash,” Mr Palmer said.
He said each Monash suburb in the top 10 had it’s own appealing elements but all shared good public transport access and amenities and were 20 kilometres or closer to the CBD.
Hughesdale’s growth was likely driven by young professionals seeking proximity to the inner-city, Chadstone Shopping Centre and public transport, Mr Palmer said.
Glen Waverley and Mt Waverley, on the other hand, were popular with the Chinese community for their sought-after schools and amenities, he said.
He added Monash homes should continue to grow in value this year — but at a slower rate.
“It would be unsustainable to see that kind of growth trending year on year … but demand is still strong for properties in those suburbs,” Mr Palmer said.
A total of $3,915,583,729 was splashed on homes in Monash in 2015, more than the amount spent in the council areas of Bayside, Glen Eira, Whitehorse and Manningham.
Victorian Valuer-General Robert Marsh said median house prices had risen citywide.
“The median sale price for Melbourne houses increased from $555,000 in 2014 to $600,000 in 2015, a rise of 8.1 per cent,” Mr Marsh said.
Data collected by the Valuer-General is considered the most authoratitive on property, capturing 96 per cent of sales and generated by settlements from the State Revenue Office.