McGrath Estate Agents has opened an office in Traralgon, extending its footprint into Victoria’s Gippsland region, two hours east of Melbourne in the Latrobe Valley.
McGrath Traralgon is led by Principal Matt Johnson, a lifelong resident of the town with 16 years in real estate. He heads a team of sales agents including Matt Fava, Ben Britten and Sam Shaw.
The office will service an area stretching from Toongabbie in the north to Jeeralang in the south, and from Rosedale in the east to Yarragon in the west. Key suburbs include Glengarry, Tyers, Hazelwood North, Churchill and Morwell.
McGrath Head of Franchise Chris Mourd said the opening reflected the group’s focus on high-potential regional markets.
“Gippsland continues to attract buyers seeking lifestyle, value and connectivity, and Matt Johnson’s strong local knowledge and reputation make him an ideal partner to represent the McGrath brand in the region,” Chris said.
According to McGrath Research, the Latrobe local government area ranks second on Australia’s east coast for annual sales growth, with transactions rising 39.9 per cent in the year to Q1 2026, and an average of 54 days to sell a home over that period. Median prices for the Latrobe LGA softened 1.5 per cent to $793,500 in the same period, while rents rose 4.9 per cent, supporting a gross rental yield of 5.19 per cent for investors.
Matt said the area’s appeal lay in its combination of affordability and lifestyle.
“Buyers are attracted to the area’s affordability without the sacrifice of lifestyle,” he said. “As a regional city, buyers appreciate the connectivity of Traralgon and its access to some of Victoria’s best natural attractions – Ninety Mile Beach, Wilsons Promontory National Park, Mount Baw Baw snowfields, the Gippsland Lakes and wineries.”
He said the office’s client base spanned the full property lifecycle.
“Our clients range from local buyers in the normal real estate lifecycle of first home buyers transitioning to upsizers, aspirational buyers and eventually downsizers, to those from out of area,” Matt said. “Buyers from metropolitan Melbourne and the south-east corridor come for the value-for-money proposition of larger homes on bigger land.”
Matt said he had followed the McGrath brand for years before bringing it to the region.
“John McGrath’s vision to improve the standard of service across the entire industry can’t go unnoticed,” he said. “The brand has pushed real estate standards forward for the entire industry. I feel privileged to bring a brand of such quality to our region.”