10 best suburbs in Victoria to buy a unit ranked: PRD Real Estate

The best suburbs to purchase a unit right now based on price and sales growth, availability and affordability have been revealed. SEE THE LIST

Hampton East is one of the best suburbs to purchase an apartment, Dr Mardiasmo says.

A suburb in Melbourne’s east has ticked all the boxes as the best area for homebuyers locked out of the house market to purchase an apartment.

New research from PRD has revealed the city’s top affordable locations for 2024.

The real estate agency’s chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo ranked suburbs based on price growth, a more-than-25 per cent contrast between house and unit values and a small number of planned future unit developments.

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Dr Mardiasmo said suburbs leading the list – including Oakleigh South, Yarraville and Altona- were best in terms of affordability, availability and price growth prospects.

“These are the suburbs you should be considering when purchasing a unit if you’re priced out of the house market,” Dr Mardiasmo said.

Topping the roll call was Doncaster East with a $788,500 (48.8 per cent) difference between its $1,615,500 median house value and typical $827,000 unit value as of 2023.

PRD chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo.

Located within the Manningham municipality, the suburb’s median unit price grew 4.7 per cent price between 2022 to 2023.

Just 152 units are set to be constructed in the area this year.

Dr Mardiasmo said although units were generally more affordable than houses, they were not “bad stock”.

She added that one of the reasons why inner-city areas like Richmond and West Melbourne weren’t preferred picks was because thousands of new units were slated for both suburbs this year.

5/8 George Street, Doncaster East on the market with a $580,000 - $630,000 price guide.

“If there are too many units coming to the area, then your rental yield might go down a little bit (as an investor),” she said.

Property Mavens chief executive Miriam Sandkuhler said while location was just one aspect of finding the right unit, many buyers would opt for their preferred suburb rather than a larger abode.

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PRD picks for best Melbourne suburbs to buy a unit

Rank – Suburb – Median house and unit price difference ($, %) – 1 year price growth – Number of new units 2024 onwards

Doncaster East – $788,500 (-48.8%) – 4.7% – 152

Oakleigh South – $307,000 (-27.2%) – 14% – 210

Yarraville – $641,000 (-51.7%) – 0% – 90

Altona – $435,000 (-38.3%) – -1.4% – 180

Strathmore – $640,000 (-46%) – -2.6% – 30

Maidstone – $287,000 (-32.4%) – 6.3% – 148

Hampton East – $578,500 (-40.2%) – 8.7% – 192

Huntingdale – $581,000 (-46.8%) – -10.6% – 60

Mulgrave – $242,500 (23.3%) – 2.4% – 79

Sunshine North – $130,001 (-18.1%) – -0.8% – 27

Source: PRD

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She said the best indicators of future performance included existing strong demand for units and all types of purchasers looking at a listing including first-home buyers, investors and downsizers.

“I’m also looking at locations where the major attributes to growth are present — predominantly residential areas with great transport, high residential amenity, good local schools and shops,” Ms Sandkuhler said.

Renders of Casa Tranquila apartments in Hampton East, which is due for completion around 2026.

More than 50 per cent of apartments have already been sold.

She said inner-ring suburbs where there hadn’t been major unit development in the past five years, and with little such development planned for the next five years, were also good prospects.

A project in the construction pipeline for one of Dr Mardiasmo’s top suburb picks, Hampton East, is the 139-apartment development Casa Tranquila, set to be completed by 2026.

More than 50 per cent of the homes have already sold with apartments ranging from about $480,000 to $1.885m.

Property Mavens chief executive Miriam Sandkuhler says location is only one aspect to consider when buying a unit.

Sales executive Chad Arbid described Hampton East as Bayside’s “hidden gem”.

He added that one of the problems with Melbourne’s unit market was that there were not enough developments in progress to meet demand, which was why he predicted prices would soon go up.

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