House prices back on the rise

Median house prices across Wyndham mostly increased in the December quarter last year, according to figures from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
The REIV last week released data showing that median house prices for metropolitan Melbourne surpassed $850,000, between October and December 2019 (compared to $829,000 in the September quarter).
The median house price in Tarneit rose 4.5 per cent (from $550,000 to $575,000).
The median house price in Werribee grew by 2.9 per cent (from $499,500 to $510,000).
Point Cook houses recorded a 1.5 per cent median rise (from $660,000 to $670,000).
Hoppers Crossing’s median house value remained steady at $532,000 between the September and December quarters.
There were less than 30 house sales in Manor Lakes, Williams Landing and Wyndham Vale during the December quarter.
Within this timeframe, Manor Lakes recorded a median house price of $552,500 (previously $541,500), Williams Landing $737,500 (previously $690,000) and Wyndham Vale $472,000 (previously $460,000).
Within metropolitan Melbourne, Port Melbourne recorded the highest increase in median house vales, rising 28.4 per cent to $1.67 million, followed by Strathmore with a 22.3 per cent increase to $1.46 million and Sunshine with a 22.2 per cent increase to $815,500.
REIV president Leah Calnan said the December quarterly medians showed the long-term strength of the Victorian property market, returning to strong growth after a short period of uncertainty.
“These are outstanding figures; the Victorian real estate sector continues to soar and set new heights.” Ms Calnan said.
“Buying in Victoria is a great investment, house and unit values are growing across the entire state.”
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) also released a report into new home sales last week, based on a monthly survey of the largest volume home builders in the five largest states.
The report said that new home sales in the three months to November last year were 2.8 per cent higher than in the previous three months.
HIA economist Diwa Hopkins said: “The residential building industry can be optimistic that activity will stabilise in 2020 after sustaining two years of fairly sharp decline.”