What paying the median can get you in Melbourne
Reading median price statistics is all well and good, but is meaningless if you don’t know what you can actually buy with that figure. A new report has revealed what kind of properties you can buy with a median of popular Melbourne markets.
A popular market alongside Sydney, Melbourne is a very popular investment location in Australia, but to refer to just Melbourne without going into further detail is a disservice to the variety of markets found in the capital city.
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That is why the Herron Todd White Month in Review report for March analysed the major Melbourne sub-regions, breaking down the different kinds of properties could be purchased at for the sub-region’s median price:
Inner city
Located within about five kilometres of the Melbourne CBD, Richmond is a fairly popular suburb, with realestate.com.au data indicating there are 762 people looking the suburb up per day.
The median price for the suburb, as of December 2018, was at $1.3805 million for dwellings and $558,500 for units, both a slight decline of 4.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
Close to the dwelling median, a 1950s house with land containing three bedrooms, one bathrooms in its original condition can go for $1.4 million, while a modern unit with two bedrooms, one bathroom and one car space can go for $585,000.
East
Situated in the middle ring are suburbs like Doncaster, Nunawading, Blackburn and Ashburton contain stand-alone dwellings which sell for around $1.2 million and townhouses for $950,000.
Ashburton property are a little pricier for the region, going for a median of $1.82 million for a four-bedroom house and $1.21 million for three-bedroom units and townhouses.
Diving under the median house price can net an investor a single-level dwelling from 2008 with four bedrooms and two bathrooms for $1.76 million, while $910,000 nets a unit villa from the 1990s with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Blackburn has a median price of $1.395 million for a four-bedroom dwelling and $905,000 for a three-bedroom unit or townhouse.
Houses in this suburb are a little older, with a 1950s original condition four-bedroom, one-bathroom dwelling doing for $1.39 million.
Units are a little more modern with 1980s units with three bedrooms and two bathrooms on a block of two with an updated kitchen going for just above the median at $910,000.
Inner and Outer North
Moving to north of the CBD now, Fitzroy has a median house price of $1.305 million, a decline of 15 per cent year-on-year, which the report noted can buy a two-bedroom, one-bathroom renovated Victorian terrace with a car spot, as well as a three-bedroom, one-bathroom unrenovated period home.
Units run for a more affordable $717,500 and can net an investor a warehouse conversion with a car spot, two bedrooms, one bathroom and views of the city or street.
Also north of the CBD is Glenroy, with a median house price of $720,000, which can buy a detached dwelling from the 1970s with a brick veneer, containing up to four bedrooms, two bathrooms and multiple car spots.
Units have a median of $520,000, which can usually buy townhouses with up to three bedrooms, one bathroom and a single garage.
If Glenroy house prices are slightly too high, investors can purchase a house for a similar price in Craigieburn, 25 kilometres north of the CBD, which has a median house price of $551,000 and a median unit price of $393,500.
At this price, houses are generally new builds with up to four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a garage for two cars.
West
Melbourne’s western suburbs have seen solid growth over the last two years, and are still proving to be popular with buyers, according to the report, even with a slight slowdown in demand.
Over the area, properties can sell for a median of $840,000, but the suburbs of Point Cook, Tarneit and Werribee all offer medians below this.
Point Cook has a median of $630,000, where a median priced house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double-spaced garage, Tarneit has a median of $537,000, which is worth three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double-spaced garage, and Werribee’s median of $532,000 can buy two storeys, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double-spaced garage.