Melbourne homehunter havens: Point Cook, South Yarra, CBD record big rise in listings

The suburbs with the biggest surges in listings, giving buyers breathing space amid a hot Melbourne market, have been revealed. See where listings have risen and fallen the most.

Point Cook is having a listings boom, with homes like 5 Archibald Chase, which is on the market for $560,000-$590,000, providing ample opportunities to buy.

Point Cook, South Yarra and the CBD have some of the best opportunities for buyers to crack the market amid a flood of new listings.

The trio recorded the biggest hike in homes hitting the market in the three months to the end of June, with the number soaring by between 123 to 155 compared to the same period last year.

But just down the road from the listings-heavy CBD market, Melbourne’s St Kilda and Queens roads district was among the localities where they tumbled the most.

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No. 10 Warunda Parade, Point Cook, is for sale for $600,000-$620,000.

Ray White figures show 72 fewer properties were put on the market there during the three month period, while leafy Wollert, Kilsyth and Glen Waverley notched up the next biggest falls.

Listings in those areas slipped by between 16 and 62 dwellings.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said Melbourne’s market performed strongly in the June quarter, and listings spiked by almost 40 per cent across the state from 21,329 last year to 29,680 this year.

But she said it was clear not all suburbs were as well stocked as others.

And the June quarter rise was followed by a sharp decline as property listings nosedived 29 per cent across the country.

No. 12 Affleck St, South Yarra, is listed for $1.9m-$2.05m.

Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak had likely shaken seller confidence in neighbouring states, while Melbourne’s fifth lockdown had also been a cause for pause for the city’s vendors, she said.

“Even Queensland’s has (dropped), and Queensland has pretty much no infections. I think it’s just making people jittery seeing these things happen,” Ms Conisbee said.

“But what we’ve seen in previous lockdowns is this pretty massive drop in the number of listings, but then when things come back to normal, some people come back to the market and you see a catch-up … and we’ll probably see far more listings than we probably otherwise would have in September.”

The unit at 2/953 Punt Rd, South Yarra, is advertised for $370,000-$405,000.

Wakelin Property Advisory director Jarrod McCabe said the glut of apartments in South Yarra and the CBD was likely caused by investors tapping out due to high vacancy rates.

Point Cook, a haven for families, also had more properties on the market as homeowners sought to trade up to a bigger home in the wake of Covid-19.

Buyers had more options and potentially more bargaining power in these areas if stock was better positioned to meet demand.

But he warned buyers against purchasing inner city apartments on the cheap in the hope it could make a good investment.

No. 2511/639 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, is listed for $490,000-$510,000.

“With apartments, and we’re technically saying more the high-rise ones, they are difficult to rent at the moment, and the rental figures are still very low and I don’t see that changing until international borders open up,” Mr McCabe said.

“(But), if it meets your requirements for what you need and what you want, then it is a good opportunity there at the moment.”

Ms Conisbee said Melbourne’s Queens and St Kilda roads area was typically populated by owner occupiers in larger dwellings, which accounted for the drop in listings compared to suburbs with high investor activity.

Kilsyth also tended to have larger homes that homeowners didn’t feel the need to trade up from following Covid.

Apartment 5/26 Liverpool St, Melbourne, is for sale for $1.2m-$1.3m.

While in Glen Waverley, homeowners may have been daunted by the rapidly rising market, which had caused them to put their selling plans on hold.

“If you sold in Glen Waverley for $1.5m and you wanted to buy a bigger home for $1.7m, if you sat around for two months trying to find a property you might not even be able to buy the property you sold,” Ms Conisbee said.

Barry Plant agent Ray Harb said Point Cook was a popular destination for first-home buyers and family househunters.

The area’s many estates had properties of all sizes and to suit any budget.

There suburb also had a number of good schools, childcare centres and parks, he said.

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HOME SWEET HOME

Charlotte and Cameron Chambers, pictured with their children, Lucas, 10, and Evelyn, 6, are selling their Point Cook home to trade up to something bigger. Picture: Josie Hayden

Cameron Chambers wasn’t keen on living in Point Cook when he first moved to the area more than a decade ago.

The work commute initially got under his skin, but he said the pros quickly outweighed the cons, particularly after he and his wife, Charlotte, started their family.

Now, with their 9 Whitecaps Ave, Point Cook, home on the market for $795,000-$835,000, he said it never crossed their minds to leave.

They bought a bigger home down the road so they could stay close to their children’s school, Alamanda College.

He said he loved the fact their estate had great parks, a gym and a tennis court nearby.

“My wife and I had always lived in the inner west … but when we wanted to have kids it wasn’t viable to get a home with a decent living space there,” Mr Chambers said.

“Everyone’s certainly pretty welcoming and friendly. The school’s 400m from our house and there’s another two parks as well.”

Originally published as Melbourne homehunter havens: Point Cook, South Yarra, CBD record big rise in listings