New life in Manningham property market as first-home buyers take chance
Prices in one Manningham suburb could decline as others suburbs plateau, a new report from a top expert has predicted. First-home buyers are taking the opportunity to get their foot in the door.
East
Don't miss out on the headlines from East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A price shift in Manningham has injected new life into the market, with young buyers returning to the east in force.
Doncaster’s market could take a hit, as Bulleen, Doncaster East, Donvale, Templestowe and Templestowe Lower plateau in the coming months, new data from property research firm Hotspotting shows.
But it’s not all doom and gloom according to local agents, who have seen first-home buyers re-emerge in the market.
RELATED: Ex-tenant pays top dollar to move back permanently
Buyers splash out at competitive Bayside auctions
Disappearance of Moonee Valley milk bars the underbelly of this conversion dream
McGrath Box Hill agent Chris Manolopoulos said there had been a noticeable shift in auction and open for inspection crowds.
“In the past homeowners and downsizers would outweigh first-home buyers and young investors [at auctions], but now it’s almost becoming a slight opposite,” he said.
“You are seeing a younger demographic attending these houses that are open for inspection — obviously depending on price point — and the crowds of attendees are becoming a lot bigger in number.”
Mr Manolopoulos said the emergence of first-home buyers also reflected a trend towards easy-care properties.
“A lot of your first-home buyers these days don’t particularly want big blocks of land. They’re very interested in having a low maintenance lifestyle,” he said.
“A mixture of apartments, units and townhouses have really given your first-home buyers or ex-tenants a real opportunity to get their foot in the door.”
CoreLogic data shows 243 units were sold in Doncaster in the 12 months to November 2018, a major change from the 147 sold during 2015.
Hotspotting’s price predictor index shows Doncaster’s median house price was $1.37 million, while the apartment median price was $565,000.
Doncaster is the only Manningham suburb marked “decline” in the latest quarterly Hotspotting report, which uses sales activity to predict prospects for growth.
Hotspotting’s “decline” markets are those which “have passed their peaks, but sales levels have not plateaued — they have continued to decline markedly, with demand falling steadily”.
“These are locations where the previous price growth will cease and in some cases prices may fall,” the report states.
Report author Terry Ryder said the Melbourne market was long past its peak, with only nine rising suburbs, none of which were in Manningham.
But the changed market conditions gave new opportunities to a younger demographic, Mr Ryder said.
“First-home buyers are more active than they had been in six to seven years, and they’re buying in [cheap outer] areas,” he said.
MORE: New opportunity ready to pour at century-old South Melbourne pub
Multimillion-dollar Strathtulloh mansion could be best in west
‘White Australia’ fundraiser raises $27k in just eight days
A crowd-funding page created by a controversial neo-Nazi figure has raised more than $27,000 to help “create a home for white people in Australia”.
Like a dame: Lilydale property up for heritage protection
A historic Lilydale home with links to renowned opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, is up for heritage protection, as the hills strengthen its links with the famed opera singer.