‘Our secret’: What life is like in Melbourne’s best value suburb

There’s a joke Gembrook locals tell: they moved there because there aren’t any traffic lights. If a set were put up, they’d all leave.

“To be honest, we’ve discussed this … we’re not sure if we want to tell everybody about our secret,” resident Garry McGough said, laughing. “We don’t want it to just become another outer suburb of Melbourne.”

Garry McGough sits at the Puffing Billy station in Gembrook. Credit: Eddie Jim

Gembrook is Melbourne’s best value suburb; there buyers paid a median $313 per square metre of land in 2023, a far cry from the $14,419 paid in inner-city Albert Park, Domain data show. The median block size in Gembrook was 4000 square metres, and it was 162 square metres in Albert Park.

When you ask McGough what drew him to the sleepy township on Melbourne’s eastern edge, value isn’t front of mind.

“It’s a silence. It’s the beauty of that,” McGough said. “I don’t live in the centre of town. I live just out of town a little bit, but it’s just complete beauty and silence. Like, you can hear the parrots singing, you know? You’re listening to a king parrot, you can hear a kookaburra.

“It’s like living in a nature world.”

Domain head of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said that the value found in rural fringe suburbs was unparalleled.

“There’s a variety of decisions that pull families … budget is one, another is the location, where do they want to live? And when you look at price per square metre that’s when you understand how much value they get for their money,” she said. “I think lifestyle is a very large bucket, and part of ‘lifestyle’ for some is having a lot of space.

“They want a different pace of life and that counts as lifestyle.”

Powell said Gembrook’s median house price was still high at $1,248,000, but that was mostly due to the large blocks of land.

“Let’s compare Gembrook to Warburton. The block size is smaller and the house price is lower, so affordability is better,” she said. Warburton’s block size was 1312 square metres, its median price $628,448 and the price per square metre $479.

Resident Carole Tracy recently moved to Gembrook. She came with husband David from the Blue Mountains in NSW, chasing a nostalgic small-town feel.

“We moved here two years ago because our family’s here,” she said.

David added: “We have two granddaughters, both live in Melbourne with their partners. Our daughter lives probably 300 metres away.”

David and Carole Tracy take a stroll down Gembrook’s main street. Credit: Eddie Jim

Molly-Jean Alchin chose to live in the area because it reminded her of her teenage home. She is raising two young children with her partner, and said Gembrook and the surrounds were welcoming for families.

“I love the community, especially working at the school, and then also being a parent within the community,” she said. “My daughter is going to kinder and my son, they’ve gone through daycare in Gembrook as well.

“The community’s just beautiful, everybody’s so supportive and just friendly. You always know a face when you’re coming down the street, you can always stop for a chat.”

Molly-Jean Alchin and daughter Macie enjoy the community feel in Gembrook. Credit: Eddie Jim

Ranges First National Real Estate director Mick Dolphin is a local, too.

“I’ve lived in the area for about 25 years,” he said. “We moved up here because of the lifestyle, I used to be a horticulturist, so I enjoyed gardening and all that kind of stuff. Bigger blocks, lifestyle, self-sufficient, that type of thing.”

Dolphin said Gembrook’s strong community ties were daunting to some would-be residents. Census data puts the population at 2559.

“In my job, not only am I in touch with people that have been in the community for a long time, as there are families that have been here since the 1850s that I know, but I’m obviously the person that liaises with the newer people when they’re moving into the area.

“People are saying: ‘well, will we be accepted?’ And the answer is yes.

Mick Dolphin with his 1950s Chevrolet ute. Credit: Eddie Jim

“What I do like about it is you can be as involved in the community as you like, or you can come up here and live your own life and do your own things.”

McGough said he previously lived in the inner city, and that living in the leafy outer east had been a life-changing experience.

“It changes you,” he said. “It takes a lot of that angst and anxiety out of you. Living in the city, it does happen. When you’re pressured in traffic, you’re condensed in with a lot of people, obviously, that’s the way it is in urban life.

“That’s why there’s parks in Melbourne, and we do have beautiful parks, thank goodness. But people need space and open air to be able to relax.”