Geelong house prices outpace nation to double in 10 years
Geelong house prices doubled over the past 10 years, accelerating faster than most capital cities, including Melbourne. Can today’s homebuyers expect the same?
Geelong house prices have doubled in the past decade, accelerating faster than most capital cities, including Melbourne, new PropTrack data reveals.
The region’s median house price reached $770,000 in May, taking exactly 10 years to double from the $385,000 figure recorded in 2013.
Only Sydney (9.6 years) and Hobart (less than seven years) saw house prices double in less time, though data shows regional Victoria and regional New South Wales accelerated at a more rapid rate.
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PropTrack head of economic research Cameron Kusher said while property prices have typically doubled in about every seven to 10 years, Australian home prices have taken the past 15 years to double, making Geelong an outlier.
The impacts the Covid pandemic on people choosing to leave capital cities for regional areas played a major role in the pace of growth, Mr Kusher said.
“But even before Covid, we’ve seen pretty strong price growth in Geelong. It’s been going on for a number of years now,” he said.
“Geelong is actually as close to Melbourne as other parts of Melbourne’s outskirts? I think there’s probably a realisation of that, and obviously lifestyle has been a big part of it too.
“A lot of people have wanted to move to Geelong for a different lifestyle to what you get in Melbourne.”
Geelong was rising from a lower base compared to Melbourne where it took 13 years to rise from $437,000 to $880,000.
“Ten years ago there probably weren’t that many areas of Melbourne that were cheaper than that and if they were, they’re probably a similar sort of distance away from the city centre as Geelong,” Mr Kusher said.
Significant development of townhouses across Geelong suburbs and apartments in particular in central Geelong would have made an impact on the median unit price price, which doubled in 12.9 years, rising from $270,000 to $540,000.
“In some ways it talks to the type of units that have been delivered (in Geelong), and that as houses have become more expensive, people have decided to purchase units because the median unit price in Geelong is obviously at $540,000, it is significantly cheaper than $770,000 for a house.
“Go back 12 to 15 years, a lot of the units in Geelong were probably older, walk-up apartment buildings, and now you’re getting more of those townhouses and obviously, in the CBD, they’re a lot higher quality units. You know that does lead to property prices rising as well as the quality.”
But Mr Kusher poured cold water on prices accelerating that quickly in the next 10 years.
“I think as property prices generally, get higher, it gets harder for them to double,” he said.
Broader economic conditions also played their part.
“Interest rates basically got as low as they possibly could, that increased borrowing capacities and drove up prices.
“Over recent decades, we’ve seen more women join the workforce, that’s increased household incomes, increased borrowing capacities.
“Also, more recently we’ve seen finance more difficult to get as well. You have to jump through a lot more hoops when you go to a financier. I think it’s unrealistic to expect the prices will double again in another 10 years.”
Originally published as Geelong house prices outpace nation to double in 10 years