Melbourne’s fastest selling suburbs: Lilydale, Bayswater North properties among city’s hottest markets

With prices looking to have bottomed out and buyer demand still relatively strong, properties in some parts of Melbourne are being snapped up at lightning speed. See the fastest selling suburbs.

Peter Farago

@PeterFarago75

4 min read

May 21, 2023 - 7:00AM

52 Foley st, Kew is for sale right now. Kew is among the Melbourne suburbs where homes are selling much quicker than a year ago.

Properties in patches of Melbourne are being snapped up in just 17 days, as budding homebuyers look to pounce on quality homes quickly.

New PropTrack figures reveal a cluster of outer east suburbs as the city’s fastest-selling, where properties spend are listed for an average of fewer than three weeks.

Houses in Lilydale, Bayswater North, Mooroolbark, Mount Evelyn and Woori Yallock spent on average between 17 and 22 days on the market before a buyer emerged.

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Other areas that are among the states fastest-selling are Doreen, Gladstone Park, Belgrave and Carrum Downs.

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Only Olinda, in the Dandenongs, has a median house price above $1m, which PropTrack economist Angus Moore said was a sign that people were chasing affordability.

“We are seeing homes in more affordable areas sell a bit quicker,” Mr Moore said.

“And we’re also seeing that prices have held up a bit better typically than in more expensive parts of the city.

“That’s consistent with the fact that interest rates have risen very quickly, which has made affordability a lot tougher for a lot of buyers. And so they’re looking in more affordable areas.”

2 Redmill Court, Lilydale, has gone under offer. It's been on the market for eight days.

Unit and apartments tend to take longer to sell, with the fastest-selling suburbs at Pakenham, Carrum Downs and Langwarrin.

PropTrack has also revealed the areas where days on market have decreased the most in the past 12 months.

While Lancefield, in the Macedon Ranges had 27 days shaved off its average sale duration, homeowners in inner eastern Kew saw nearly two weeks slashed from their time on the market, down to an average 37 days.

Buyers were also acting faster in Cheltenham, where the average 30-day campaign was 12 days fewer than last year, while Glen Waverley and Keilor East had dropped by seven days.

9 Nimblefoot Way, Lilydale, hit the market this week with price hopes from $900,000 to $990,000.

Mr Moore said these suburbs were among the small number of areas where sale times were decreasing.

“Across Melbourne in the past year it’s taken about 40 days typically to sell a home and about 45 days regionally.

“It’s no surprise that homes are taking longer to sell than a year ago, as property markets were obviously very hot then,” Mr Moore said.

“But what we are seeing today is homes are still selling quicker than they were pre-pandemic.”

PropTrack economist Angus Moore says the new data shows that Melbourne could see faster home sales coming up.

Mr Moore said with Melbourne home values stabilising and rising in the past few months, more suburbs could see faster sales.

“We might start to expect buyers to be a bit more competitive and stock might start moving a bit quicker than it has been.”

Barry Plant Lilydale director Ashley Hutson said price point was leading buyers to leave suburbs closer to the city.

“We had opens on Saturday with in excess of 40 groups through for anything between $800,000 and $1m,” he said.

“They’re neat, tidy family homes with three or four bedrooms, two bathrooms or a downsizer on its own title.”

He said buyers had sold up apartments or family homes in Ringwood, Mitcham and Vermont to come further out where the value for money was better.

“We’re at the end of the train line, so we are definitely getting families.

“We’re getting retirees and first-home buyers who have grown up further in but can’t afford to buy where mum and dad live, so this is the next-best thing.”

This home in Mary St, Kew, sold after 27 days on the market.

Nelson Alexander, Kew agent Nick Whyte said the demand for homes in the inner-east private school belt was heightened due to a shortage of supply.

Kew has a median house price of $2.81m, according to PropTrack, and homeowners saw time on market cut by almost two weeks this year.

“Kew and Hawthorn is a sort of a bulletproof area that even when the market tightens up people still want to get into that private school belt,” Mr Whyte said.

“What we’re seeing is that demand has remained, however supply has really tightened up.

“So buyers have had a lack of choice, especially in the family home market, and that’s meant that we’ve maintained multiple bidders on most properties that have gone to market.”

Mr Whyte predicted the tight listing environment wouldn’t change for some time as homeowners remained cautious about rising interest rates.

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“There was a correction in the market and the assumption of sellers was that was going to continue, so they’ll just stay put rather than come to market,” Mr Whyte said.

“That uncertainty remains, so the properties that are coming to market are where the vendors are genuine about wanting to sell and move on and the market is responding well to that.”

Shortest days on market (Melbourne houses)

Rank	Suburb	Current days on market	Current median sale price
1	Lilydale	17	$835,000
2	Olinda	19	$1,170,000
3	Doreen	19	$725,000
4	Bayswater North	21	$850,000
5	Woori Yallock	21	$685,000
6	Gladstone Park	22	$705,000
7	Mooroolbark	22	$803,000
8	Mount Evelyn	22	$845,000
9	Belgrave	22	$850,000
10	Carrum Downs	22	$684,000

Source: PropTrack

Shortest days on market (Melbourne units)

Rank	Suburb	Current days on market	Current median sale price
1	Pakenham	24	$475,000
2	Carrum Downs	25	$550,000
3	Langwarrin	25	$580,000
4	Lilydale	27	$520,000
5	Chelsea	27	$658,000
6	Melton South	28	$353,000
7	Altona Meadows	28	$485,000
8	Croydon	28	$652,000
9	Ringwood East	29	$688,000
10	Rowville	29	$695,000