Alpine property market heating up as regions outstrip capital cities

Regional housing markets are outstripping value growth across capital cities, rising 13 per cent over the past year.

Alpine properties at Mt Buller in Victoria. Picture: Supplied

Regional housing markets are outstripping value growth across capital cities, rising 13 per cent over the past year compared with a 6.4 per cent gain in capital city values, according to CoreLogic.

The gains have also reached alpine areas.

“If COVID has been good for regional real estate, it has been even better to alpine real estate,” says Melbourne agent John Castran, managing director of Castran.

“In my 40 years of working in real estate I have never seen such velocity of sales of alpine real estate,” he said.

The volume of sales at Rino Grollo’s long-held Mt Buller development over the past 14 months has been higher than the previous year – growing 30-40 per cent over the past 13 months.

Mt Buller is the only skiable mountain developing new housing product including two, three and four bedroom apartments. Two bedders are selling for $800,000 to $1.2m, three bedders are fetching $1.45m to $2.1m while four-bedroom apartments and free-standing chalets are going for as much as $3.2m to $4.5m.

The Grollo Group also recently released 14 land lots at Mt Buller with 11 lots selling at an average sale price of $1.2m for a 200sq m site including a carpark. The sites can house a three-bedroom freestanding chalet.

“Off the plan sales are also exceptionally strong at Mt Buller. For example, we have sold three Evoke chalets, which are three-bedroom or four-bedroom, freestanding chalets that include two carparks in the range of $2.85m to $2.95m,” Mr Castran said.

Club lodges are also selling well with the six-bunk room Mulligatawny ski club lodge, a cosy 1960s-style ski lodge near Mt Buller village centre recently selling for $1.18m.

“Twelve months ago this property would have fetched somewhere in the range of $700,000 to $850,000,” Mr Castran said.

However, Mr Castran said there was a significant shortage of stock at Mt Buller and the Grollos are about to release the Kooroora West development comprising two, three and four- bedroom properties.

“The attraction for these high-net-worth individual (buyers) is being able to either fly their own aircraft or charter aircraft and be in the midst of the ski fields in less than 30 minutes from Melbourne, and one hour and 15minutes from Sydney,” Mr Castran said.

“The Mt Hotham airport is seeing more plane movements in the past few months including a significant number of forward bookings for apron space this winter.”

Sales at the less developed Dinner Plain village, about 10km east of Mt Hotham on the Great Alpine Road, have also been strong, according to Mr Castran who says his Dinner Plain office has been “overrun with buyers and underrun with listings”.

“Property prices have increased in the range of 30-40 per cent in the last 13 months,” he said, adding that two and three-bedroom properties sell for $500,000 to $750,000 while four and five bedders are changing hands from $750,000 to $2.1m. Vacant land fetches from $185,000 to $450,000.

“Alpine acreage that is located in the sub-alpine areas of Dinner Plain has also been selling at a ballistic level.

“There is a significant demand for off-grid properties in the high country, particularly if they are located near the pristine rivers.”

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless says the faster pace of growth in regional areas reflects the stronger demand. “This can partly be explained by the new popularity of remote and flexible working arrangements, but also increased demand for lifestyle-oriented properties and holiday homes,” he said.