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Home values in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria eased their declines during the first three months of the year, according to new data.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) has revealed that during the March quarter, median house prices in the state capital reported a slight 1 per cent decrease to $955,500, while their regional counterparts held strong at $602,000, down $1,000 from the previous quarter.
Units in Melbourne, however, declined 1.8 per cent to a median asking price of $611,000, while units in the state’s regional locations reported a 3.7 per cent value increase in the opening quarter of the year.
REIV president Andrew Meehan explained that the market is still stabilising following recent pandemic-induced price booms, but noted that “despite pressures from the interest rate increases, the market remains robust, particularly in outer-ring suburbs.”
In Wyndham Vale, on the outskirts of Melbourne, home values dropped by 4.7 per cent over the March quarter. Yet, for hopeful city home buyers, this decline was offset by overall price gains of 9 per cent over the preceding 12 months, marking the suburb as the capital’s strongest-performing suburb for annual growth.
Seaside suburb Brighton, Melbourne’s most expensive housing market across the first quarter of the year, reported a 23.2 per cent quarterly increase to home values, taking them to $3,951,000.
Additionally, the suburb also ended the opening quarter of 2023 as the city’s most expensive unit market following an 11.8 per cent price spike in the three months to March, culminating in median prices ending the period at just under $1.4 million.
Brighton was joined by Templestowe as the two leading markets for quarterly price growth at 23.2 per cent, while Glen Waverley recorded the largest jump in unit values over the three-month period after they soared 22 per cent to $1,220,000 million.
Regarding annual price growth, the REIV reported Morwell in the state’s east led Victoria for house price growth after values in the region jumped 21.5 per cent in the 12 months to March 2023, followed by West Wodonga, where they rose 21.1 per cent.
Despite prices climbing across the state during this period, the REIV revealed opportunities lie for individuals hunting properties under $400,000, with houses in Stawell and Churchill able to be fetched for below the price threshold, even with 18.8 per cent and 12.3 per cent growth, respectively.
The REIV’s residential market index (RMX), which measures price movements on a weekly basis, has rebounded 8.9 per cent since the beginning of the new year, with the RMX currently at 154.9, close to levels reported midway through 2022.
Mr Meehan concluded that “strong demand for housing is likely to continue throughout the rest of the year.”
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