Property demand reaches new heights, rise in out-of-town buyers

Central Ballarat, Soldiers Hill in particular, is performing strongly, with a huge rise in out-of-town buyers.

Ballarat Real Estate’s Allister Morrison said the market had been as big as he had seen it, with a lot of properties selling well above the top end of the range. 

“Prices are really buoyant, and there is not a lot of stock on the market at the moment so that is what is keeping prices pretty solid,” he said.

“And it’s only going to continue into the new year because interest rates are incredibly low, there are a lot of first home buyers in the market place and the medium house price in Melbourne is hovering around $900,000 and Ballarat at around the $350,000 mark, so it’s a no brainer in terms of value for money.”

Ballarat was among the state’s top performing towns for regional apartments and units price growth, according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria.

Its data said Ballarat suburbs experiencing strong growth included Alfredton, up 10.4 per cent to a median of $317,500, Lake Wendouree, up 6.9 per cent to $347,500, Redan, up 6.3 per cent to $218,000, and Ballarat East, up 6.1 per cent to $279,500. 

Mark Nunn from Buxton Ballarat said about 40 per cent of the real estate company’s sales were going to buyers from out of town, with most of those properties investments.

He said properties in the most in demand areas of Ballarat were selling within three to seven days. 

“Basically if you draw a two kilometre circle around the train station it’s in pretty hot demand because there is a lot of that Melbourne commute happening,” Mr Nunn said. 

“Particularly with the train line getting faster, it is making it more and more attractive for people to buy around (the area), walk to the station and work in the city (Melbourne).”

James Nicol from Biggin Scott said the Melbourne market seemed to be pushing more buyers to Ballarat. 

“I would say for every 100 sales we are doing (at Biggin Scott), 60 or more are coming from outside of Ballarat,” he said. 

“We’re finding a lot of people from Melbourne, especially, are getting blown out of the water at auctions in the city and then they come out here and are just gobsmacked they can actually pay the top sticker price for a property and sign on the dotted line.”

But the real estate agents said local buyers were also active, with new display homes proving popular. 

Locals were interested in the western growth corridor, including Lucas, Delacombe and Winter Valley, where they were buying blocks and building, as well as Miners Rest.