Latest data confirms house prices are climbing.
Have you noticed how the tone of the media coverage around the Melbourne property market has changed radically in the past few months?
It seems that even the lifelong sceptics have come to realise two key facts:
- That the impact on prices of the lockdown was nowhere near as traumatic as some predicted, and
- That buyer demand began bouncing back as soon as the lockdown restrictions eased and has continued in that vein ever since.
We saw further evidence of just how resilient the Melbourne property market is this week with the release of the latest quarterly house price data from the REIV. Their report for the December quarter showed that the median house price in Victoria recorded its largest quarterly increase since 2000.
The REIV’s figures indicate that the median price for a house in metropolitan Melbourne has now moved above $900,000 for the first time ever. In fact, the new median house price of $941,000 was an increase of 9.5 per cent on the figure recorded in the September quarter, just three months prior.
The REIV’s figures show that house prices in middle Melbourne, a zone that includes many of the houses in the City of Moonee Valley and surrounding suburbs, increased by 8.0 per cent from September to December. Another key statistic is that the December quarter median was also 7.3 per cent above the figure recorded one year before in December 2019. This confirms that the market has shrugged off whatever impact the lockdown may have had during the middle of last year.
Whilst unit prices were slower to rebound than those of houses, units in metropolitan Melbourne still reached a median price of $639,500, which was 2.5 per cent higher than the September quarter and reflected an annual increase of 3.8 per cent.
Numbers like these show that with interest rates at record lows and government incentives such as stamp duty cuts and first home buyers grants adding to what were already favourable conditions, the current market is proving to be an excellent time to be buying property in our part of Melbourne.
If you are considering making a move in the current market, and are keen to make the most of the current imbalance between big buyer numbers and the shortage of available property for sale, I would invite you to give us a call at Barry Plant Moonee Valley this week on 9319 1700.
Our team is always happy to advise and assist.
Regards,
Bill Karp
Director – Barry Plant Real Estate
Keilor East & Essendon