Geelong’s property market is back on the winner’s list, with a strong lift in sales volumes pointing to more price growth in 2026. A new report identifies a trio of suburbs where homebuyers are most likely to reap the rewards of the region’s rising property market. Charlemont, Corio and Ocean Grove are named among the nation’s top 50 supercharged housing markets in Hotspotting’s Summer Price Predictor Index.

More than three-quarters of Geelong suburbs earned positive rankings, cementing the city’s standing as one of regional Victoria’s top performers. Regional Victoria was revealed as one of the big winners nationally, shrugging off its loser classification from 12 months ago.

Hotspotting founder Terry Ryder said there was elevated buyer activity across the state after years of flatlining. “We are seeing demand coming back strongly for Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, but Geelong is a real standout,” Mr Ryder said. “There was a 29 per cent rise in 12 months in sales activity, which is a big increase, and there is rising suburbs right throughout Geelong.

At the top end, places like Ocean Grove, and at the affordable end, Corio and the newer developing areas, they have all got rising demand.” Geelong unit sales were also up 39 per cent on the same quarter last year, despite being a relatively small market. Affordable suburbs such as Newcomb, Corio and Norlane led the charge, along with Geelong West.

Mr Ryder said there continued to be an entrenched shortage of “everything that matters” in residential real estate, which was underpinning booming market conditions nationwide. Hotspotting measures quarterly trends in sales volume to predict areas of future growth, with the latest analysis forecasting price rises as a near certainty in most major and regional markets.

The 26 rising Geelong suburbs include Armstrong Creek, Belmont, East Geelong, Grovedale, Manifold Heights, Newtown and Waurn Ponds, while Mount Duneed was named among the nation’s top 50 most consistent suburbs. In Ocean Grove, house sales have steadily risen from 68 a quarter in mid-2024 to 97 in the last quarter.

RT Edgar Bellarine director Brock Grainger said he expected the momentum to continue into the new year. “Obviously we had an amazing run through Covid times but it has been a tough couple of years in real estate locally, so it’s good to see that it’s bouncing back,” he said. “We have definitely seen really strong improvement and a lot more buyer confidence, particularly around the median house price. If you get a property that is presented well and priced right, there is definitely competition on it – that $800,000 to $1m range is really hotly contested.”