By Alesha Capone
Wyndham house sales are likely to continue at a steady rate in the year ahead, according to real estate experts.
Although there has been plenty of publicity about how Melbourne’s house values are tipped to fall this year, the Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Gil King said that some sections of the market were still performing well, including Wyndham.
“What the REIV has been saying for quite some time is that, although we are not seeing the inflated prices, strong auction clearance rates and intense competition of 2017, there are pockets of the property market that are still doing exceptionally well,” he said.
“Wyndham has been one of the stars of the 2018 property market, with three of its suburbs – Wyndham Vale, Hoppers Crossing and Point Cook – all featuring in the top 20 [in Melbourne] list of the largest annual increase in their house price median at four, nine and 13 respectively.”
The median house price in Point Cook was recorded as $677,500 in September last year (a rise of 13 per cent compared to September, 2017), Hoppers Crossing’s median house price was $581,000 (up 14.9 per cent) and Tarneit’s was $548,500 (up 11.5 per cent),
In Truganina, the median house price was $517,500 (up 14.4 per cent), Werribee $498,750 (a rise of 9.4 per cent) and Wyndham Vale $485,000 (up 15.7 per cent).
Mr King said one of the reasons behind Wyndham’s strong results could be the fact that median house prices across the area were below the $750,000 cut-off to be eligible for the state government’s first home owners grant.
YPA Wyndham City director Bassam Tofaili said it was too early to be making predictions about potential buyer behaviour for the next 12 months, but that he was still seeing “genuine buyers” at inspections. He said he believed Wyndham’s housing market would stay “steady and stablised” this year as long as people were “realistic” with their pricing strategies.
“What we’re finding is that there is good demand for top-end properties and in Werribee there is also demand for commercial property,” he said.
Mr Tofaili said that last year, he sold a 620-square-metre block in Cottrell Street, which is zoned as an activity centre, for $1.1 million.
