By Alesha Capone
The Victorian property market is holding firm in the face of COVID-19, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
REIV president Leah Calnan last week said that despite predicted “doom and gloom”, the market was still going strong.
“While there has been a small adjustment from the previous quarter, the market is in much better shape than it was in 2019 across all property types,” she said.
Within Melbourne’s outer suburbs, Williams Landing has ranked first for the largest increase in quarterly median house prices, jumping by 29.1 per cent between March and June to reach $832,500.
In Tarneit, where there were less than 30 sales in the quarter, the median price increased by 8.6 per cent to $603,000.
The median in Manor Lakes, where there was also less than 30 sales, rose 2.8 per cent to $586,000.
Median prices fell by two per cent in Point Cook (to $645,000), in Hoppers Crossing by 2.7 per cent (to $527,500) and by 7.7 per cent in Werribee (to $491,000).
The director of Point Cook-based Fletchers Wyndham real estate agents, Harpreet Walia, said that at the moment, market conditions were similar to those of three years ago.
“The activity is closer to 2017, when there were lots of listings,” Mr Walia said.
“Over here, it’s a crazy market in the west.
“You do hear the odd comment from buyers that the market is down, but most buyers are actually trying to speed up the purchasing process now, with the pre-approvals they have already got for a mortgage.”
Mr Walia said that despite COVID-19, he was receiving phone and online queries from potential buyers located interstate, such as Sydney, Perth and Canberra.
He said that in Wyndham, properties of all price levels were selling, from $400,000 to $1.5 million.
“There are buyers for properties, whatever the price,” he said.
Mr Walia said that, for example, he is in the process of selling a two-year-old house, four-bedroom house in Timberside Drive, Tarneit, with an asking price of between $1.3 million – $1.4 million.
He said his office had fielded 42 inquiries about the property within three weeks.
