Mornington Peninsula: Victoria’s biggest holiday home sell-off has knock-on effect to families, the coast

The biggest holiday home sell-off in history for one of Victoria’s hotspots is slashing the number of getaways available for people heading away over summer. And it’s also having another unforeseen effect on visitors.

Many Mornington Peninsula homeowners are choosing to sell up their holiday homes, like this property 377 Sandy Road, St Andrews Beach — which is currently up for sale.

The biggest holiday home sell-off in history for one of Victoria’s most popular summer hotspots is slashing the number of getaways available for families headed to the coast.

The Mornington Peninsula Shire’s short-stay accommodation register lost more than 200 homes in the 12 months to July last year, in its first decline outside the Covid era.

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And locals are warning the decline and a cost-of-living crisis that has more people planning day trips to the area’s beaches is leading to heavier traffic and sand seekers having to hike up to a kilometre from where they can find a car park among the crowded backstreets.

The council’s short stay rental accommodation local law requires those offering homes for rent on platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz to disclose them, and pay a $352 fee to the council.

In the 2019 financial year there were 2294 homes registered, with almost 3000 on the list by June 30, 2020.

Inside 377 Sandy Road, St Andrews Beach, which has a $1.69m-$1.75m asking price.

That number plunged to 2358 in 2021, but soared in the years that followed to a 3080-home peak in 2023.

Local real estate agents have claimed the drop reflects a holiday home sell off that has the Peninsula’s property market the busiest it’s ever been.

There were more than 2400 homes listed in connection with the area on realestate.com.au this week.

Belle Property Dromana principal Grant McConnell said as much as 85 per cent of the homes for sale in the area today were former holiday homes.

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“People are moving on because of the rising costs of everything, including land tax and the vacancy tax as well,” Mr McConnell said.

430 Sandy Rd, St Andrews Beach has been earning $50k-$60k a year as an Airbnb, but is now for sale.

Noting that the short-stay accommodation levy being implemented by the government later this year would also be motivating sales, the agent noted that there were already signs of unforeseen consequences.

“From Mornington to Portsea, it’s the busiest I have ever seen it — but the majority of them are day trippers,” he said.

“Some people are walking a kilometre to get to the beach because you can’t get a park.”

94 Creedmore Drive, Rye is listed for $1.499,000.

Mr McConnell said while the demand for parking would usually be eased by people renting a holiday home, this year there were simply less available “as a lot of them are on the market”.

He added that his firm’s rental department were also working hard at the moment, with most homes offered for a long-term lease snapped up within 10 days.

The agent added that he was expecting busy conditions to continue along the coast, with 33 auctions scheduled from January 18-30, including 28 on the Australia Day long weekend.

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Originally published as Mornington Peninsula: Victoria’s biggest holiday home sell-off has knock-on effect to families, the coast