In the March quarter last year the median house price in Sebastopol was $180,000 while in the March quarter this year the median had increased by 16.6 per cent to $209,950.

In Alfredton the median house price fell by $11,000 between the December and March quarters to $300,000.

Wendouree also experienced a decline from $190,500 in the December quarter to $185,000 while Ballarat's central suburbs experienced an increase from $223,000 to $235,500.

Overall for Ballarat the median house price rose from $235,000 to $239,950.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria division chairman John McKinnon said the REIV figures should be treated with caution.

He said with the exception of Sebastopol, each major suburb had fewer than 30 sales each for the March quarter, a relatively low number that may not be sufficient to provide an accurate indication as to the state of the market.

"They're difficult figures to start quoting from a positive or negative way," Mr McKinnon said.

He said the values for Sebastopol were encouraging and could be explained by recent sales of townhouses in the $210,000 to $220,000 range.

Regional Victoria still provides more affordable housing than metropolitan areas.

The median price for a detached home in Melbourne for the March quarter was $432,500, down 8.4 per cent from last year's December quarter median of $472,250.

REIV chief executive officer Enzo Raimonda said regional Victoria had largely defied this downward median trend.

"Ballarat's median increased by 2.1 per cent to $239,950, Bendigo's increased by 5.3 per cent to $240,000, Geelong's fell by 0.8 per cent to $325,000," he said.