The best beach in Melbourne, and how much it costs to live nearby

Beachfront property can cost millions. But St Kilda offers a beach lifestyle even to home buyers on a shoestring budget.

Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards recently named Sydney’s Manly beach as the best in the South Pacific based on traveller reviews, followed by Bondi beach, and neglected to choose any Victorian beaches in its top 10. But in a more granular ranking of Melbourne’s best beaches, the travel site lists St Kilda beach as No.1, above Brighton and Elwood.

St Kilda was ranked Melbourne’s best beach.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Local real estate agents are quick to point out St Kilda’s affordability relative to other Melbourne bayside suburbs and iconic beaches further north.

St Kilda’s median house price was $1,459,000 over the year to December, on Domain data.

That’s cheaper than the median unit in Bondi Beach, at $1,475,000 over the same timeframe, or Manly at $1.75 million. And St Kilda’s typical unit can be had for a fraction of this, at $522,500.

Closer to home, the median house in Brighton costs $2.85 million, while Elwood sits at $2,118,000.

In St Kilda, though, locals from all walks of life are drawn to the beach, pier, parks, shopping, cafes and nightlife, and multimillionaires call the area home as well as those down on their luck.

For first home buyers or investors, entry-level studio or one-bedroom apartments can be had for under $300,000 surprisingly close to the water.

McGrath St Kilda principal Michael Townsend advises buyers to set aside $450,000 to $500,000 as an entry point for a unit with a carpark and outdoor space, but even then, he highlights the area’s value.

“St Kilda is the most undervalued, best beach in the country,” Townsend said.

“When you look around the bay and you’ve got these incredibly expensive houses from Middle Park, Albert Park all the way through St Kilda West – skip St Kilda – then you get to Elwood and you get on to Hampton and you get on to Sandringham. All the median prices are so much more expensive than St Kilda.”

Buxton Port Phillip director and auctioneer Rohan White sometimes sees buyers from Sydney who are surprised to learn of the sticker prices on homes in St Kilda.

“They’re somewhat gobsmacked from an investment perspective that they can buy this close and it’s not $1.8 million,” White said.

“You would want to have a truckload of money if you were living in Bondi. But you can buy a one-bedroom apartment in St Kilda for $300,000 and walk to the beach.”

Many buyers, though, are local to St Kilda and do not wish to leave the area.

He thought buyers looking for a single-fronted house should budget from $1 million to $1.4 million.

But he noted the market is price sensitive at the moment, and homes guided too high were taking longer to sell than well-priced homes which attract competition.

Belle Property St Kilda principal Sam Inan thought a budget of $1.2 million to $2 million, depending on the level of renovation, could buy an Edwardian cottage or a Victorian single-fronted cottage.

The Saint Moritz penthouse fetched $30 million.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Then family homes could cost from $2 million up to eight figures, offering the best outlook and access to the beach, he said.

He has seen demand from young buyers as well as those preparing to retire.

“It’s an option for someone who wants to do the sea change, particularly because it still has great proximity to the city,” he said.

Marshall White Port Phillip partner and auctioneer Ben Manolitsas said buyers can choose from terraces or contemporary homes to accommodate their family.

“[There are] a lot of family buyers, a lot of buyers that want more space. They might have one, two or three kids; they can get a bit more space in St Kilda,” he said.

“There’s a group of people in St Kilda that have gone from the apartment to the single-fronted home and upsized to the double-fronted home, all within St Kilda.”

At higher price points, he also fields demand from buyers coming from Stonnington and Boroondara, or interstate.

He also noted the Saint Moritz apartment development on the Esplanade, where media entrepreneur and former Domain boss Antony Catalano paid $30 million for the penthouse.

He has listed for sale a grand home at 8A St Leonards Avenue, set on 1354 square metres, with a price guide of $9.6 million to $10.5 million.

“You pick that property up and move it elsewhere, it’s double the price. It is really good value, it is renovated well. That is what I would call the upper end of St Kilda.”