Darebin property market making headlines

Having been an active member of the Darebin community for several decades, you won’t be surprised to know that we’re a little miffed at the suggestion that our much-loved area was ever ‘daggy’! However, the news that Melbourne’s inner-north has been gaining in status among home buyers conforms what we have been saying in these reports for the past few years.

The report on page 31 of Saturday’s Herald-Sun said:

“The Darebin region…is one of three Victorian markets to make the cut in Hotspotting’s National Top 10 Best Buys of 2019 report.”

Quoting the founder of Hotspotting, Terry Ryder, the report went on to say:

“Driving Darebin’s property market was its closeness to the CBD, “good bones” in terms of public transport links and infrastructure, and “relative affordability”, Mr Ryder said.

The latter was particularly true in the unit market, in which several suburbs still offered medians in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, despite the property type outperforming houses for growth.

Unit prices notably jumped 9 per cent annually in Northcote to a $570,000 median, and 5 per cent in Thornbury and Coburg, to $560,000 and $495,000 respectively.

In comparison, the region’s best-performing house market was Macleod, with gains of - 2 per cent to $895,000.

“The market is resilient because it’s accessible for many types of buyers,” Mr Ryder said. “It’s also one of those areas that was considered daggy years ago and now it’s gone through the gentrification process people consider it a bit trendy.

Low vacancy rates — especially in Thornbury (0.9 per cent) and Northcote (1 per cent) — make the area attractive for investors, while several Darebin suburbs are due for infrastructure development after the state government earmarked them as major activity centres.”

Whilst the figures mentioned above are particularly good news for unit owners in Northcote and Thornbury, reports like these are good news for property owners of all types right across the City of Darebin. However, it is important to remember that property price data reflects general trends only. So if you would like an update on how much more your specific property could be worth in the current market, don’t hesitate to give our team at Barry Plant Preston or Northcote a call.