The key regional cities of Victoria have been notable growth markets for the past 4-5 years – but, amid all the disruption that’s currently afflicting real estate markets, they keep on keeping on.
The strong sales activity seen in the March Quarter continued in the June Quarter, despite rising interest rates and cost-of-living pressures.
The Regional Victoria market appeared to have peaked in early 2021 and to be gradually fading after a strong couple of years, but it has shown increasing signs of resurgence in the first half of 2022.
The number of locations with rising sales momentum revealed by our quarterly surveys over the past two years or so have been: 27, 35, 86, 88, 67, 51, 53, 66 and 66 again in this latest survey.
This shows that Regional Victoria markets rose to a peak in the first half of 2021 (the quarters with 86 and 88 rising markets) and then appeared to be fading in the second half of 2021.
But the past two surveys, including this new Spring 2022 survey, have identified a resurgence.
Regional Victoria has been a national leader of the Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle trend and continues to draw residents out of Melbourne.
The “big three” of Regional Victoria – Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo – have been producing high price growth for the past 4-5 years, but continue to attract significant buyer demand because of their strong local economies, links to Melbourne and affordability relative to the state capital.
Municipalities outside Greater Melbourne to the south-east, like Cardinia (Beaconsfield, Pakenham, Koo Wee Rup and Emerald) and Latrobe (Moe, Newborough, Churchill and Morwell), are showing persistence and resilience, despite 2-3 years of strong price performance.
In the hill change municipalities north of Melbourne, both Mitchell Shire (Beveridge, Kilmore and Seymour) and Macedon Ranges (Romsey, Woodend and Kyneton) both have significant growth locations.
At the NSW border Wodonga, which has had several years of growth, still has a busy market – while in the north-west Mildura is still a rising market.
Most of the Greater Shepparton towns are rising or consistency markets. Torquay continues to attract good demand on the Surf Coast south of Geelong, while out west Warrnambool remains one of the state’s best performers.
Elsewhere across Regional Victoria, there are smaller regional centres which continue to produce busy property markets.
LGAs with buoyant markets include Wellington (Sale and Loch Sport), Moira (Cobram, Yarrawonga and Numurkah), Campaspe (Echuca and Kyabram), Moorabool (Darley and Bacchus Marsh) and South Gippsland (Leongatha and Venus Bay).
Other good performers include Ararat, Benalla, Bannockburn, Maryborough and Swan Hill.
Colac continues to stand out for its consistency (having received our award as the most consistent location in Australia in the Winter 2022 edition), while Stawell has a similar level of consistent sales activity quarter by quarter.
So, overall, activity in key centres across Regional Victoria remains busy and prices are still rising in most of these markets.
Whatever mainstream media says about markets crashing in various parts of Australia, it’s certainly NOT happening in Regional Victoria.
Our new Top 5 Victoria Regional Hotspots report is essential reading for anyone planning their investment decisions, as it provides research-based evidence of the markets we expect to do well through 2022 and beyond.
