Melbourne’s outer suburbs have been the most popular for house sales this year

Melbourne’s outer suburbs have been the most popular for house sales this year and it’s all down to new homes and affordability, experts say.

Point Cook topped the list with 1325 house sales in the 12 months to December, while Pakenham came in second with 1116 house sales, according to Domain Group data. The two suburbs also had the highest number of house sales in the country.

For unit sales, Melbourne CBD topped the list in Victoria with 1697 and had the second largest in Australia, with Surfers Paradise in Queensland taking the top spot, with 1796.

Craigieburn, Berwick and Werribee also made the top five Melbourne suburbs for house sales.

LJ Hooker Point Cook director Silvana Masalkovski said though the outer western suburb was 15 years old, there was still land being released and new houses being sold, giving it a high volume of sales.

“It’s a large suburb as well, there are approximately 15,000 properties in Point Cook,” Ms Masalkovski said.

She said Point Cook was more attractive than outer suburbs in the north and east because it was closer to the city and “eclectic” aspirational suburbs such as Williamstown and Yarraville.

“You don’t have that across in the south east in those newer estates with a similar median price,” she said. “If you look at the northern suburbs, you don’t have that freeway access to the city.”

Ms Masalkovski said more people were selling their established properties in Point Cook and buying new properties in the suburb, which also contributed to the high volume of sales.

Sources: Domain Group