• The median Victorian Regional house and unit prices remained stable in the September 2023 quarter, however both remain below levels recorded 12 months ago;
• Rental levels in the Regional markets have remained resilient with the average weekly rental levels for both houses and units sitting at all-time highs as at September 2023;
• The vacancy rate for Regional Victoria remains very tight at 2.1% with major Regional Cities residential vacancy rates sitting at 1.9% in Ballarat (1.9%), Bendigo at 2.3% and Geelong 2.9%.

Victorian Regional Residential Market Summary

Having declined over the past 12 months, the median Victorian Regional house and unit prices remained stable in the September 2023 quarter. In contrast to the performance of median prices in Regional Victoria, rental levels in the Regional markets have remained resilient with the average weekly rental levels for both houses and units sitting at all-time highs as at September 2023. The vacancy rate for Regional Victoria remains very tight at 2.1%, slightly lower than the metropolitan average of 2.4%.

Prices

Having recorded four consecutive quarters of declines between mid-2022 and March 2023, the median Victorian Regional house price risen by 0.6% since with prices stable in the September 2023 quarter at $604,500 according to the REIV. While median prices of unit in Regional Victoria have fallen more than median Regional house prices over the past 12 months, they too remained stable in the September 2023 quarter at $416,500 which may reflect that movement has stabilised for the short term. Median house prices have fallen over the past 12 months in Victoria’s key regional cities of Ballarat (down by 2.6% to $565,000), falling by 3.4% in Bendigo to $560,000 and Geelong’s median house price down by 8.2% over the year to $730,000 as at September 2023. While there is some downside risk to median dwelling prices for Victorian regional properties, given the relative affordability compared to metropolitan properties, Urban Property Australia expects that the Regional housing markets will outperform the metropolitan housing market in the short term.

Regional Dwelling Prices

Demand / Vacancy

According to the ABS, Victoria’s regional population increased by 16,700 over the year to June 2022 with Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo accounting for 53% of the population growth across the regional area. Over the 12 months to June 2022, Geelong experienced the greatest population growth of all regional cities across Victoria followed by Ballarat. The pandemic and working from home has made a regional move more possible for those in capital city-based jobs, with the flexibility of work never been so recognised as previously considered. According to the REIV, as at September 2023, the vacancy rate for Regional Victoria remains very tight at 2.1% (albeit higher than the rate of 2.0% recorded a year earlier) in comparison to the metropolitan average of 2.4%. The vacancy rates of the major Regional Cities also remain very low, led by Ballarat (1.9%) followed by Bendigo at 2.3% and Geelong (2.9%).

Regional Vacany by Region

Rents

In contrast to the performance of median prices in Regional Victoria, rental levels in the Regional markets have remained resilient with the average Regional Victorian weekly rental levels for houses steady at $450 while average weekly rental rates for Regional units have climbed back to all-time highs of $370 as at September 2023. By regional city, Ballarat outperformed both Bendigo and Geelong with the weekly median rent for houses up 9.7% to $420 as at September 2023. In comparison weekly median rents for houses in Bendigo increased by 9.5% to $480 with rents for Geelong increasing by 6.5% to $490 per week as at September 2023. Median rents for Regional units increased by 5.7% over the year to $370 per week.

Copyright © 2023 by Urban Property Australia All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by microfilm, xerography, electronically or otherwise, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, without the written permission of the copyright owner.