17 Jul 2017

Melbourne median house price up again in June quarter to $822,000, REIV reports

Melbourne’s median house price has risen for the fifth consecutive quarter. The citywide median jumped 2.9 per cent to $822,000 in the three months to June 30, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. The figure was $770,000 at the end of 2016 and surpassed $800,000 for the first time at the end of March.

It comes as the latest NAB Residential Property Survey predicted the Melbourne house market would continue to experience “solid, albeit slower, growth in prices” this year and next, with the gains ultimately returning to “more sustainable levels”. It forecast house prices to grow 7.5 per cent this year and 5.5 per cent next — a fair drop-off from 2016’s 15.1 per cent gains.

Foreign buyers accounted for 20.8 per cent of new property sales in Victoria in that period, up from 13.8 per cent in the previous quarter, and 9 per cent of sales in the established market. This was despite China’s crackdown on capital outflows into overseas property and a raft of new restrictions and taxes on foreign ownership introduced in the latest federal budget, NAB chief economist Alan Oster said.

The REIV figures show Melbourne’s apartment sector also performed strongly in the June quarter, with the citywide median up 4.3 per cent to $606,5000. And house prices rose for the second consecutive quarter in regional Victoria, up 2 per cent to $385,000. The NAB report tipped Armadale, Brighton, Footscray, Frankston, Kew, South Yarra, St Kilda and the CBD to enjoy “above average growth” in the next year.