Rising demand for family homes and renovations hitting the market are raising values in Geelong top 10 growth suburbs of 2024.
But the city is still chasing the peak of the market in 2021.
New PropTrack data reveals the region’s suburbs and towns with the biggest growth in median house price in 2024.
Harcourts, North Geelong agent Joe Grgic puts the region’s growth figures into perspective, given the big correction in prices since 2022.
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“Right across the board, we’re still chasing the 2021 peak and 2022 varied in instances of what happened because the market shifted with rates going up and then having unprecedented 13 rate rises in a row changed the game,” Mr Grgic said.
“We’re coming from a low which is still better than 2020, but we can definitely see that family homes, tidy homes, are really sought after and there’s multiple buyers wanting to get in.”
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Lifestyle: The four-bedroom house at 50 Viewbank Rise, Lovely Banks, sold off-market for $2.05m.
New estate: The four-bedroom house at 26 Minnauns Rd, Lovely Banks, is listed with $775,000 to $825,000 price hopes.
Lovely Banks is an unlikely suburb to the lead the city with an 8.3 per cent increase adding almost $60,000 to the median price.
Mr Grgic said Lovely Banks is unusual due to its diversity of housing, from acreage, a 1990s era subdivision, a 2010s estate with smaller blocks and another pocket with lifestyle blocks from 1200-2000sq m.
“That’s where people have shifted to wanting to be. To have that lifestyle, a bit of space to enjoy, whether a pool comes in or just to be able to have family and people over and enjoy it.”
Mr Grgic said there’s also an element speculating on Lovely Banks’ future land values as the city prepares to open the next urban growth corridor through part of the suburb.
| GEELONG: HOUSES – BIGGEST GAINS | ||
| Suburb | Median price | Change in 12 months |
| Lovely Banks | $770,000 | 8.3% |
| Indented Head | $892,500 | 6.3% |
| Lorne | $1,975,000 | 6% |
| Rippleside | $1,055,000 | 6% |
| Bell Post Hill | $660,000 | 5.1% |
| Marshall | $650,000 | 5.1% |
| Newtown | $1,220,000 | 4.9% |
| Winchelsea | $670,000 | 3.1% |
| Manifold Heights | $1,200,000 | 2.1% |
| Whittington | $505,000 | 1% |
Source: PropTrack
| GEELONG HOUSES – LARGEST DECLINE | ||
| Suburb | Median price | Change in 12 months |
| Point Lonsdale | $1,160,000 | -19.40% |
| Barwon Heads | $1,534,000 | -14.10% |
| Anglesea | $1,467,500 | -13.70% |
| Herne Hill | $665,000 | -10.40% |
| Wandana Heights | $925,000 | -8.90% |
| East Geelong | $770,000 | -8.20% |
| Portarlington | $880,500 | -7.30% |
| Thomson | $516,000 | -6.50% |
| Geelong | $900,000 | -5.30% |
| Waurn Ponds | $786,000 | -5.30% |
Source: PropTrack
The four-bedroom house at 97 Jedda St, Bell Post Hill, is listed with price hopes from $849,000 to $899,000.
The five-bedroom house at 54 Dane Ave, Bell Post Hill, sold in September for $1.15m.
“If you look at the urban growth areas – and this is across the board, whether it’s Lovely Banks, Batesford or Fyansford – there are people who are saying there is windfall tax coming up, and am I better off selling now, moving on and getting a pretty good reward?,” Mr Grgic said.
Renewed investor interest is boosting demand in Bell Post Hill, where the median house price has risen 5.1 per cent to $660,000.
Interstate buyers are seeing the map of the suburb with Geelong Ring Road access, good local schools such as Kardinia International College and Covenant College, and shopping choices that are drawing families, Mr Grgic said.
The four-bedroom house at 168 The Esplanade, Indented Head sold for $1.75m.
The three-bedroom house at 704 Pigdon St, Indented Head, is listed with $865,000 to $950,000 price hopes.
House prices are also rising at Newtown, along with middle-ring suburbs such as Marshall, Manifold Heights and Whittginton.
While Lorne is an outlier in the list, where a 6 per cent rise the equivalent of $112,000, most of the region’s growth in more subdued.
Some coastal areas such as Anglesea, Barwon Heads and Point Lonsdale have seen big corrections after the Covid property boom, with median house prices falling between 13 and 20 per cent.
New homes and renovating is also playing its part in areas such as Manifold Heights, Marshall, Rippleside and Winchelsea.
McGrath, Geelong agent Jim Cross said renovations had delivered rewards for homeowners in Rippleside, where a 6 per cent jump added $60,000 to the median house price.
The four-bedroom clifftop home at 27 Balmoral Cres, Rippleside, is listed for sale with $4.75m to $4.96m price hopes.
The four-bedroom house at 14 Werner Ave, Marshall, is listed with $669,000 to $719,000 price hopes.
The suburb is a development hotspot with a big increase in unit stock, but the many high-priced off-the-plan sales have yet to impact values as construction continues.
“The suburb of Rippleside is actually quite small in regards to the volume of homes and there’s been a lot of capital being spent on new builds and also beautiful high-end renovations in that location,” Mr Cross said.
“What that’s doing is actually increasing the value of the properties in that suburb. So the prices are up six per cent based on capital improvements put into the suburb more than natural capital growth.
“You just find with a smaller number of houses in the suburb. It’s easier to shift the needle on the values, because you don’t have to have some big volume of sales at the high end.”
| GEELONG: UNITS – LARGEST GROWTH | ||
| Suburb | Median price | Change in 12 months |
| Geelong West | $541,250 | 24% |
| Portarlington | $800,000 | 23.10% |
| Hamlyn Heights | $541,500 | 6.20% |
| Whittington | $397,000 | 5.60% |
| Torquay | $980,000 | 5.10% |
| Newtown | $616,250 | 4.40% |
| Barwon Heads | $1,027,500 | 3.10% |
| Herne Hill | $387,000 | 2.5% |
| Drysdale | $565,000 | 2.3% |
| Belmont | $529,000 | 1.7% |
| GEELONG: UNITS – BIGGEST DECLINE | ||
| Suburb | Median price | Change in 12 months |
| Geelong | $614,000 | -15.7% |
| St Leonards | $570,000 | -12.5% |
| Ocean Grove | $790,000 | -10.2% |
| Bell Park | $490,000 | -9.4% |
| Lara | $455,000 | -8.8% |
| Highton | $511,000 | -6.2% |
| Norlane | $387,500 | -5.5% |
| Corio | $377,500 | -3.2% |
| Leopold | $500,000 | -2% |
| Lorne | $1,275,000 | -1.9% |
Source: PropTrack
