Bottom of the Melbourne market reached
Recent figures may be pointing to the bottom of the Melbourne market, with growth already being recorded in some areas, according to an industry body.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) noted that the September quarter medians saw the housing market remain stable, with a median house price of $530,000. This compares to a revised June quarter median sitting at $525,000.
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Pointing out that these prices combined with low transactions matches the pattern seen in 2010, the REIV noted that growth is on the horizon for the city.
REIV CEO, Enzo Raimondo, noted that strong capital gains will quickly occur when confidence increases.
“A combination of lower interest rates, lower prices, an improving clearance rate and small improvements in consumer confidence should sow the seeds of a recovery in the residential housing market,” Mr Raimondo said.
Prices, in fact, are beginning to “trend upwards” with growth especially being recorded in the middle and outer suburbs.
“In trend terms the inner city median has dropped by 0.4 per cent this quarter compared to an increase of 1 per cent in the middle suburbs and 0.9 per cent in the outer suburbs,” he said.
Thornbury recorded the highest growth, with an 11.4 per cent jump to $750,000. Yarraville clocked in second at 8.8 per cent growth to $615,000, while Preston jumped by 8.2 per cent to $598,000.
Strong growth was also noted in Mitcham, Cranbourne, Croydon, Greensborough and Rowville.
“In regional Victoria the median house price was also stable with a minor 0.7 per cent increase to $307,000.
“The three main centres reflected this and recorded mixed results with the median price of a house in Ballarat increasing by 1.8 per cent to $285,000, in Bendigo it dropped by 2 per cent in the quarter to $301,000 and in Geelong there was a 6.1 per cent reduction to $362,000,” he said.
