This article was first published by SAMANTHA LANDY, Property reporter, News Corp Australia Network
IT’S a swell time to sell property southeast of the CBD — especially on the Mornington Peninsula.
Holiday havens Flinders and Portsea top all other Melbourne suburbs for annual median house price growth, CoreLogic data shows, with the former rising almost 50 per cent in the 12 months to June.
And nearby Safety Beach is the city’s best performing area for units.
Southern suburbs closer to the city have also enjoyed big annual price gains, including St Kilda East, Ormond and Keysborough for houses, and Brighton, Ripponlea and Hampton East for units.
Agents in these hot spots have largely attributed their success to their lifestyle offerings — including, of course, closeness to the coast — and the low supply of housing coming on to the market struggling to keep up with buyer demand.
To give a complete picture of the year’s performing suburbs across all portions of the Melbourne market, the Sunday Herald Sun has broken down the CoreLogic’s price growth data into houses and units for various 10km distances from the CBD.
For houses, St Kilda East leads suburbs within 10km of the city, boasting 35.4 per cent annual price growth to result in a median sale price of $1.422 million.
Leading selling agent in the inner suburb, Joey Eckstein of Wilsons Agents, said a lack of houses coming on the market had helped boost prices this year by forcing more competition between buyers.
Mr Eckstein said housing stock levels were down 20 per cent on last year.
The amenities of evolving restaurant and cafe strip Carlisle St were also drawing in buyers, he said: “It’s become the new Chapel St.
“The cafe culture has picked up over the past five years or so. It’s trendy now.”
Mr Eckstein said the recent sale of 50 Empress Rd for $1.18 million showed the area’s rampant price gains — the sale price was $168,000 higher than when the three-bedroom Edwardian last changed hands just 18 months earlier.
Northwestern suburb Atwood topped suburbs 11-20km from the CBD with annual house price growth of 35.1 per cent to a median sale price of $680,000, according to CoreLogic.
Keysborough in the southeast led suburbs 21-30km out (28.7 per cent, $624,000) and Flinders the 30km-plus category (48.8 per cent, $1.19 million).
RT Edgar, Flinders, agent Michael Parker said price gains in his suburb were being driven by the fact the southern side of the Mornington Peninsula was semirural and “a little bit quieter” than the bustling Sorrento, Blairgowrie and Portsea.
“That’s very attractive to some buyers,” he said.
“Not many people are wanting to sell at the moment, so there’s a shortage of supply too.
The seaside suburb’s median sale price will boom even further if the area’s most extravagant beach house, Miramar at 2270-2290 Mornington-Flinders Rd, finds a buyer at its expected price of about $20 million. The house, belonging to members of the wealthy Besen family, is due to hit the market through Sotherby’s International Realty this month.
CoreLogic data also shows that the unit market within 10km of the CBD is led by Brighton, where the median price rose 27.3 per cent to $910,000 in the year to June.
Blackburn South was the leading performer in the 11-20km radius, rising 27.5 per cent to $780,000, Ringwood East for 21-30km from the CBD (18.1 per cent to $551,000) and Safety Beach for 30km-plus (28.2 per cent to $500,000).
Barry Plant, Blackburn, sales director John Stack said the Blackburn South unit market was being bolstered by downsizers leaving their family homes in Blackburn for something smaller nearby.
Mr Stack said units, in particular the newer villa variety, were regularly attracting three to five bidders at auctions.
“We just wish we had more to sell,” he said.
TOP SUBURBS: ANNUAL MEDIAN PRICE GROWTH
Within 10km
HOUSES
1. St Kilda East: 35.4%, $1.422m
2. Spotswood: 31%, $900,000
3. Fairfield: 30.3%, $1.205m
4. Carlton: 29.3%, $945,000
5. Windsor: 28%, $1.203m
UNITS
1. Brighton: 27.3%, $910,000
2. Ripponlea: 25.3%, $522,500
3. Braybrook: 23.7%, $454,250
4. Balaclava: 20.6%, $550,000
5. Caulfield: 19.2%, $727,500
11-20km
HOUSES
1. Attwood: 35.1%, $680,000
2. Ormond: 31.6%, $1.5m
3. Hughesdale: 28.5%, $1.195m
4. Hampton: 28.1%, $1.765m
5. Box Hill: 28%, $1.35m
UNITS
1. Blackburn South: 27.5%, $780,500
2. Hampton East: 27.4%, $662,000
3. Bulleen: 22.7%, $693,000
4. Ashburton: 21.8%, $1.1m
5. Sandringham: 17.2%, $690,000
21-30km
HOUSES
1. Keysborough: 28.7%, $624,000
2. Croydon: 22.2%, $660,000
3. Ringwood: 22.1%, $842,500
4. Noble Park North: 21.8%, $530,000
5. Springvale: 21.4%, $680,000
UNITS
1. Ringwood East: 18.1%, $551,000
2. Mulgrave: 15.2%, $645,000
3. Croydon South: 14.7%, $522,000
4. Springvale South: 14.4%, $406,000
5. Hillside: 13.6%, $375,000
30km+
HOUSES
1. Flinders: 48.8%, $1.19m
2. Portsea: 43.9%, $1,877,500
3. Officer: 25.9%, $385,000
4. Kilsyth: 19.3%, $572,500
5. Mt Evelyn: 19.1%, $530,000
UNITS
1. Safety Beach: 28.2%, $500,000
2. Mooroolbark: 23.1%, $480,000
3. Endeavour Hills: 17.4%, $399,000
4. Bittern: 16.1%, $360,000
5. Crib Point: 12.2%, $290,000
Source: CoreLogic, 12 months to June 2016