First-home buyers fuel price surge in affordable Geelong suburbs

1 month ago 12

Breakwater performed strongly in the December quarter, with this renovated house at 13 Fellmongers Rd selling for $700,000.

House values in one cheap Geelong suburb surged 20 per cent over the past year as affordable areas continued to spearhead the market recovery.

The average Corio home added almost $100,000 in value, including a $47,000 rise in the December quarter.

The latest quarterly median value data from PropTrack shows a widespread bounce back across the city, with affordable neighbourhoods notching the biggest price growth.

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Just two coastal towns, Portarlington and Lorne, experienced a downturn, in contrast to success story Jan Juc where values climbed 8 per cent, or $103,000.

House prices in Corio jumped 9 per cent to $561,000 in the past three months, with Norlane gaining 8 per cent.

The median value of homes in Lovely Banks and Thomson rose 7 per cent over the same period, while Breakwater, Bell Post Hill and Whittington posted 6 per cent gains.

PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said a surge in first-home buyer activity was helping fuelling competition in cheaper areas.

“Across the board we are seeing relatively affordable suburbs attract more demand and if you think about percentage growth in most affordable areas it is actually a smaller dollar amount than somewhere more expensive,” Ms Flaherty said.

“There is activity in the investor market but there’s also an active trend in first-home buyers and I think another factor is the first homebuyer 5 per cent deposit scheme.”

PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty.

This three-bedroom house at 52A Canadian Pde, Corio, sold for $420,000 in December.

She said all the signs pointed to more growth for Geelong going forward, as it continued to emerge from the lengthy post-Covid dip.

“There is still good affordability, it has a growing population and infrastructure investment,” she said.

“Investors have to be convinced but when they see capital growth is rising and returning confidence that is what they are looking for.”

Harcourts, North Geelong director Joe Grgic said a new crop of out-of-town investors was beating a path to Corio and Norlane.

“The external investor looks around the country and says ‘where can I get this kind of value in a major city and 50 minutes from Australia’s largest city?’ so we still see that as being a major driver,” he said.

“However when the PM announces that is a new opportunity for first-home buyers it certainly drove people to at that … and one of the things is that is allowed for people to borrow at a higher price.”

Jan Juc recorded an 8 per cent jump in values for the December quarter during which this custom build at 10 Sunningdale Ave, Jan Juc, sold for undisclosed figure well above the $3.15m top asking price. Picture: Nikole Ramsay

This renovated, three-bedroom house at 66 St Albans Rd, Thomson, sold for $755,000.

He said three-bedroom houses in neat condition on a 500sq m-plus allotments were the hottest ticket in Geelong’s north.

“We have actually helped a number of our clients get their property up to speed and then enabled them to get a premium,” he said.

Several Geelong unit markets also performed strongly during the December quarter, again underpinned by the search for affordability.

Geelong West and Manifold Heights were the standouts, with values surging 8 per cent over the three-month period.

The median unit value in Geelong West is up more than $40,000 to $567,000.

HOW MUCH YOUR HOME IS WORTH NOW

Suburb	Property type	Median value	Quarterly change	Annual change
Anglesea	H	$1,437,000	2%	-6%
Armstrong Creek	H	$690,000	4%	7%
Bannockburn	H	$783,000	2%	6%
Barwon Heads	H	$1,497,000	2%	-1%
Bell Park	U	$543,000	6%	14%
Bell Park	H	$668,000	4%	11%
Bell Post Hill	H	$697,000	6%	12%
Belmont	U	$551,000	5%	7%
Belmont	H	$737,000	4%	9%
Breakwater	H	$575,000	6%	12%
Charlemont	H	$664,000	4%	7%
Clifton Springs	H	$701,000	3%	6%
Corio	H	$561,000	9%	20%
Corio	U	$425,000	5%	20%
Curlewis	H	$693,000	3%	6%
Drysdale	H	$760,000	2%	6%
Drysdale	U	$557,000	2%	3%
East Geelong	H	$827,000	2%	8%
Fyansford	H	$974,000	1%	2%
Geelong	U	$593,000	3%	2%
Geelong	H	$907,000	2%	4%
Geelong West	U	$567,000	8%	11%
Geelong West	H	$844,000	2%	3%
Grovedale	H	$718,000	5%	10%
Grovedale	U	$527,000	4%	6%
Hamlyn Heights	U	$583,000	7%	10%
Hamlyn Heights	H	$762,000	4%	9%
Herne Hill	U	$394,000	7%	10%
Herne Hill	H	$745,000	2%	9%
Highton	U	$557,000	4%	8%
Highton	H	$890,000	1%	6%
Indented Head	H	$815,000	1%	1%
Jan Juc	H	$1,443,000	8%	6%
Lara	U	$509,000	4%	0%
Lara	H	$727,000	4%	8%
Leopold	H	$711,000	4%	8%
Leopold	U	$514,000	2%	8%
Lorne	U	$1,164,000	-1%	-5%
Lorne	H	$1,777,000	-6%	-8%
Lovely Banks	H	$811,000	7%	13%
Manifold Heights	U	$504,000	8%	9%
Manifold Heights	H	$972,000	4%	4%
Marshall	H	$672,000	4%	9%
Mount Duneed	H	$738,000	4%	8%
Newcomb	H	$609,000	4%	10%
Newcomb	U	$485,000	3%	8%
Newtown	U	$626,000	6%	9%
Newtown	H	$1,176,000	1%	4%
Norlane	H	$515,000	8%	17%
Norlane	U	$436,000	3%	27%
North Geelong	H	$674,000	5%	13%
Ocean Grove	H	$965,000	3%	4%
Ocean Grove	U	$715,000	-4%	-6%
Point Lonsdale	H	$1,276,000	1%	1%
Portarlington	U	$669,000	4%	-1%
Portarlington	H	$861,000	-2%	-2%
Queenscliff	H	$1,486,000	2%	5%
St Albans Park	H	$642,000	5%	12%
St Leonards	U	$592,000	2%	-3%
St Leonards	H	$741,000	1%	2%
Thomson	H	$580,000	7%	11%
Torquay	H	$1,241,000	2%	3%
Torquay	U	$865,000	0%	-4%
Wandana Heights	H	$1,039,000	2%	5%
Waurn Ponds	H	$835,000	4%	10%
Whittington	U	$423,000	6%	11%
Whittington	H	$562,000	6%	14%
Winchelsea	H	$652,000	3%	5%