Brendan Wong
New data from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) has revealed that city fringe suburbs in Melbourne are emerging as the city’s most expensive areas.
Kangaroo Ground, Warrandyte South and Red Hill South have joined REIV’s list of 39 suburbs with median house prices of over one million dollars.
According to policy and public affairs manager Robert Larocca, it was significant because the three suburbs shared few characteristics with places like East Melbourne and Brighton.
“The things that those suburbs have in common are they’re not in the inner city of Melbourne, their properties are reasonably large blocks, they’re in areas that you’re not going to get a lot of median or high density developments," he told Real Estate Business.
“They’re areas where people are making a distinct choice to buy an expansive home on a large block bordering the bush. What they also have is reasonable access to the CBD."
Mr Larocca said while properties would continue to depreciate, there would be a rise in the number of median million-dollar suburbs.
“It reveals some of the lesser-known expensive suburbs and that’s what we’re finding on the city fringe," he said.
The new data showed that proximity to the CBD was not a factor underpinning high prices and that residents were less diverse than the metropolitan area, as well as older with a median age of at least 40.
The dwellings in the area were also larger, with four- to five-bedroom houses being the average to take advantage of larger blocks.
East Melbourne was Melbourne's most expensive area with a median price of $2.5 million.
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