The median house price in Victoria has recorded one of its largest quarterly increases, with the value of Melbourne metropolitan houses passing $1 million.
Data from the Real Estate Industry of Victoria’s March quarterly report showed house values in metropolitan Melbourne jumped 8.8 per cent in the March quarter, reaching a new median of $1,004,500.
Houses in middle Melbourne – 10km to 20km from the city’s CBD – rose by 6.9 per cent in the first three months of the year to reach a new median price of $1,148,500.
Median house prices in regional Victoria also passed the half-million-dollar mark for the first time, with a record quarterly gain of 4.1 per cent bringing values to $510,500.
Regional Victorian unit prices jumped 5.9 per cent rise in the March quarter to reach $384,000, representing a 19.1 per cent rise over the past 12 months.
Units prices in metropolitan Melbourne climbed 4.8 per cent in the March quarter to a median of $672,500, which was an annual increase of 3.4 per cent.
REIV President Leah Calnan said the market statistics showed there had been “unprecedented levels of buyer interest across Victoria”.
“Sellers and buyers didn’t waste any time getting active in the market,” Ms Calnan said.
“House prices have been boosted by incentives for first-home buyers, mortgage repayment holidays, and low interest rates.”
She said the scaling back of COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria had also fuelled activity across the state.
“High demand across the state has also been fuelled by an increase in activity following Victoria’s lockdowns which saw thousands of auctions cancelled”, she said.
