As we look to a new year ahead, it would seem that the appetite for Melbourne real estate shows no sign of abating, with continued strong interest in local property. A number of surveys and analyses have been reported upon since Christmas, indicating that Melbourne’s market in 2017 is set for sustained growth.
In late December, the Australian Financial Review addressed a survey of respected property analysts, which gave a solid indication that Melbourne’s market will continue to grow strongly in the new year, and range from a conservative 4% according to BIS Shrapnel, to a possible 13%, even after a rate rise by the Reserve Bank according to SQM Research. Also leaning towards the upper levels, CoreLogic expects the local market to rise by around 9% in 2017.
These rosy predictions were backed up by an SBS News report on 30 December 2016 [2] into the health of Australia’s capital city markets, where it quoted Fairfax/Domain’s view that Melbourne, together with Canberra, will be the nation’s best performing markets this year in both house and apartment values.
Australian online property commentators The Real Estate Conversation considered the results of the ANZ Property Council Survey of more than 1,500 industry professionals, which saw confidence in the Melbourne market remain steady, and firmly in positive territory at 139 points, (where 100 represents ‘neutral sentiment’) – and well above the national average.
On Wednesday, Domain’s Sue Williams noted that “Blue-ribbon suburbs close to city centres, lifestyle areas with views of the ocean … and neighbourhoods with great private schools – these are all set to be the biggest winners of 2017’s Australian prestige property market,” primarily due to astute homebuyers looking for greater privacy; closer proximity to the city, schools and work; and even the return of affluent ex-pats returning from a post Brexit UK and an Trump-led US.
So, while the rest of the world seems to be in a state of flux, it’s reassuring that, at least on the home front, the experts are predicting the real estate market in Melbourne will continue to be safe as houses.
