Prediction of further rise for Melbourne property prices

Melbourne’s residential real-estate to grow by 10 percent in 2010

WBP Property Group, CEO, Greville Pabst predicted further rises for Melbourne’s residential property market at today’s Melbourne Property Outlook seminar, held at Bourke Street’s, RACV Club.

Despite an already strong rise in Melbourne’s residential property markets qualified property valuer Pabst forecasts “a further 10% growth in the median house price to $550,000 – $600,000 in 2010,” reasoning that strong economic conditions including low levels of unemployment , low interest rates and a high demand for residential real-estate, fueled by a booming population, would underpin the market this year.

In particular, Pabst identified Melbourne suburbs Berwick, North Melbourne and Frankston as hot performers in 2010 noting that “these areas performed well in 2009 and with continued development planned for each, property values will benefit further.”

2010 Melbourne Hot Spots
“South-eastern suburb, Berwick, located in Victoria’s largest growth corridor is set to benefit from the expansion of Monash University’s Berwick Campus, which will accommodate a significantly larger intake of students creating significant demand for local rental property,” said Pabst.

Suburb, Frankston, made the hot list for the second year running. According to Pabst, who refers to the suburb as “Dandenong by the sea,” “Frankston represents excellent affordability sitting well below the Melbourne median and offering the advantage of a seaside location.”

Pabst also noted the exceptional performance of the coastal holiday markets, with strong recent sales in suburbs including Dromana, Rye and Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula and Airey’s Inlet, Ocean Grove and Anglesea on the Surf Coast, marking the commencement of what will be a strong year for Melbourne’s property markets.

WBP’s Commercial Valuations Manager Justin Thomas analysed the recent performance of Melbourne’s retail, office and industrial real-estate sectors, noting that tightening lending constraints had slowed supply of new stock across the three segments. Furthermore, of current lending policies Thomas stated “it will ease the pressure in areas with an oversupply of stock, however, will put further pressure on those areas with an already limited supply, both scenarios resulting in upward pressure on values in 2010-2011.”