BALLARAT'S median housing price has skyrocketed nearly 20 per cent in just one year as property costs surge to record levels.
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That is the takeaway from the December 2021 Real Estate institute of Victoria statistics which shows every Ballarat suburb has now reached a median milestone of over $400,000.
Ballarat's median house price is now $522,000, up 19.4 per cent from the same time last year.
And according to one of Australia's leading population experts, it's the millennial market which is driving the increase.
Despite the surging prices, Ballarat still remains remarkably affordable compared to the rest of the state with regional Victoria now with a median of $601,000.
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Executive director of The Demographics Group Bernard Salt said the figures told two stories.
Firstly, that it was more likely that retirees and those looking for weekenders within an hour or two of Melbourne were propping up coastal and holiday markets, while cities like Ballarat were far more attractive to the 25-44 market which now realised it did not have to live close to work.
"This is significant because this is millennial," Mr Salt said. "Typically millennials leave the regions and go to capital cities, but there's a back flow happening at the moment.
"It's not a flood and won't make a difference to a place like Melbourne in the broader sense, but it does have an impact on communities like Ballarat.
"It's being driven by something unique in that you can now take your job with you, this was always the sticking point for millennials wanting to buy property in the regions.
"Now that working from home is fashionable, people now say they can 'go to Ballarat, get a better bang for your buck, a better quality of life and get back to Melbourne when I need to'.
"Effectively this is tree-change 2.0, the first was retirees going to Clunes and places like that, this is more broadly based."
Across the state, Ballarat's prices are on a par with Bendigo ($520,000) but it has slipped behind Warrnambool ($566,000) while Geelong is now averaging an eye-popping $765,000, jumping just under 25 per cent in the past year.
Ballarat suburbs continue to shine though with Soldiers Hill the second highest growing suburb in the past three months across the whole state, improving its median by 20.6 per cent to $591,000.
Invermay Park also saw a huge lift of 18.6 per cent to $653,000 while Central Ballarat also climbed 10.8 per cent to $698,000.
Growing suburbs such as Lucas (8.6 per cent growth to $570,000) Delacombe (11.2 per cent incrase to $528,000) and Miners Rest (10 per cent up to $523,000) continued to show consistent growth.
Sebastopol was the final suburb to hit the $400,000 figure, with the median price climbing from $395,000 to $420,000.
The vast majority of Ballarat suburbs saw jumps, although some of the more established suburbs did see decreases in average sale price.
Sebastopol remains the cheapest suburb to buy in Ballarat with Wendouree's median at $445,000 and interestingly Redan is next at $450,000, which could be attractive to those seeking an inner-city lifestyle at an affordable price.
Mr Salt said the increasing prices were good for locals selling and understood the frustration felt by those about trying to break into the property market, but added it was part-and-parcel with a growing city.