Melbourne experiences strongest March quarter price growth for a decade with 5.1% boost to $561,000 median: REIV
The median house price in Melbourne jumped 5.1% to $561,500 in the March quarter, according to the latest data by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
The seasonally adjusted data shows the median house price rose from $536,500 in the 2012 March quarter – reflecting an annual growth of 4.65%.
It was the strongest March quarter for more than a decade.
REIV chief executive Enzo Raimondo says the increase in buyers in the December quarter continued through the first quarter of this year with increased volumes, prices, and clearance rates.
“Higher sales volumes were recorded with an estimated 6.4% more sales than the March quarter last year.
“There are a number of factors increasing demand; increasing population growth, improved consumer confidence and overall affordability assisted by lower interest rates.
“High level of residential construction which has provided adequate supply, especially in the outer suburbs housing market and inner city apartment market will act to constrain price growth over the year,” says Raimondo.
Raimondo says the price growth was particularly pronounced in the inner and middle ring suburbs, with Brighton, Balwyn, Balwyn North, Northcote, Doncaster and Camberwell all recording strong growth.
Doncaster experienced the highest growth in the March quarter of 17.2%.
The median house price in December in Doncaster was $708,000 compared to $830,000 in the March quarter.
Brighton followed next with a growth of 12.5% to a median house price of $2 million in the March quarter, the first time Brighton reached this median price level.
Balwyn experienced the third highest growth of 11.4%, taking the median house price from $1.25 million in the December quarter to $1,392,500 in the March quarter.
Balwyn North experienced a price growth of 11.2% this quarter with a median price of $1.09 million.
Northcote’s house pricing grew 9.9% this quarter to a median price of $855,000.
Camberwell’s median house price is $1.4 million in the March quarter, compared to $1,287,500 in the December quarter – a growth of 8.7%.
The weakest six performing suburbs over the March quarter for house price growth include Craigieburn, Glen Iris, Malvern East, Packenham, South Morang and Wyndham Vale.
Wyndham Vale experienced the largest price drop of -13.1% over the March quarter, with Malvern East following with a price drop of -8.5%.
South Morang experienced a price drop of -7.8% and both Packenham and Glen Iris experienced a quarterly price drop of -6.0%.
Suburbs that recorded less than 25 sales for the quarter were not included in the analysis.
Melbourne's median house price fell 0.9% over the three months, according to the REIV which advised has adopted the seasonally adjusted median for overall comparisons as it is less affected by the compositional variations that are particularly pronounced in the December and March quarters.
The $534,000 December quarter figure was revised down from the initial $536,190 median.
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