House prices in 25 Melbourne suburbs have out-earned their owners in the past year, surging at least $100,000 as the family home became 2024’s “most successful” property type.
New Real Estate Institute of Victoria figures show while the wider city’s median house price fell by $20,000 (2.1 per cent) to $913,000 in 2024, a handful of postcodes shrugged off tough conditions.
Multimillion-dollar housing markets including Deepdene, Portsea and Brighton had some of the biggest gains, rising anywhere from $255,000 to a whopping $602,000 in the past 12 months.
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But more affordable pockets including Brooklyn, where the typical house today costs $803,250, and Yarra Glen, $935,000, also notched six-figure gains.
The growth would put them comfortably ahead of the $97,864 a year wage of Victoria’s typical worker, according to latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
In further good news for some homeowners, there were 92 suburbs where the median house price grew at least 3.6 per cent in the past 12 months to outpace the 3.5 per cent increase in Aussie wages in the same period.
![35 Kitchener St, Deepdene - for herald sun real estate](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
35 Kitchener St, Deepdene sold in December for $2.78m.
But there were a whopping 261 areas where homebuyers would have been able to catch up to the market, as home values rose less than 3.5 per cent — or dropped back.
The losses were more pronounced in Melbourne’s inner ring, where the $1.645m median house price lost $45,000 (3.2 per cent) in the past year.
TOP GROWTH AREAS: HOUSES
Princes Hill: $1,830,000 — 24.5%
North Warrandyte: $1,480,000 — 23.1%
Park Orchards: $2,332,500 — 20.2%
Deepdene: $3,613,000 — 20.0%
Brooklyn: $803,250 — 17.8%
Strathmore: $1,730,000 — 15.3%
Watsonia: $1,000,500 — 14.9%
Portsea: $3,350,000 — 14.5%
Diamond Creek: $1,100,000 — 14.0%
Launching Place: $736,000 — 13.2%
Source: REIV December Quarter Median Prices, 2024
Reductions in the city’s middle and outer rings were more modest, with a $20,000 (1.7 per cent) decline to $1.17m for the former and a $9,000 (1.2 per cent) reduction to $766,000 for the latter.
REIV president Jacob Caine said by and large the good news from 2024 had been the improvement in affordability in many areas.
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“That’s small consolation to homeowners that saw values for their properties decline, but there was really a story of micro markets with pockets that have enjoyed significant increases, some pockets that have effectively plateaued and others that have lost ground,” Mr Caine said.
One of the key reasons for the differences had been the volume of homes for sale in different areas, with a combination of compliance requirements for rental homes as well as land tax increases becoming the “final straw” for many landlords, leading to significant numbers of properties being listed for sale.
![568 Park St, Princes Hill - for herald sun real estate](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 768"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Prince Hill topped the REIV list of top growth areas. 568 Park St, Princes Hill is for sale with $1.32m-$1.42m price guide.
Mr Caine added that many of the areas that enjoyed better price growth had been more affordably priced, with a greater share of homebuyers focusing on them as interest rates at their highest level since 2011 constrained borrowing capacity.
“Of the 10 suburbs with the most sales, nine were outer suburbs — and all of them have price points below Melbourne’s median,” he said.
“But, without question, the family home was the most successful dwelling type to sell throughout 2024. We see that represented throughout these figures, but also in higher clearance rates last year.”
Area’s like Brooklyn which offered both family amenity and comparative affordability to neighbouring areas had done particularly well, he added.
Hocking Stuart Inner West director Leo Dardha said growth for Brooklyn had been “well warranted”.
1 Bournian Ave, Strathmore also sold in December for $3.551m.
“It is a little, untouched gem in the inner west that has proximity to the CBD and it has been undervalued for years,” Mr Dardha said.
With new cafes opening, a growing list of amenities in the area and ongoing affordability made it unsurprising that the suburb was gaining value now, he added.
“The adjoining suburbs are Altona North and West Footscray, and they are a lot more expensive.”
TOP GROWTH AREAS: UNITS
Clayton South: $785,750 — 24.1%
Safety Beach: $1,045,000 — 22.9%
Albion: $308,000 — 21.7%
Aspendale: $1,010,000 — 20.6%
Clifton Hill: $877,500 — 20.2%
St Kilda West: $595,000 — 17.8%
Dandenong North: $597,500 — 17.2%
Moonee Ponds: $580,000 — 17.1%
Mt Eliza: $780,000 — 16.4%
Blackburn North: $953,200 — 14.8%
Source: REIV December Quarter Median Prices, 2024
The REIV figures also show the $629,000 typical unit was nominally flat at $629,000, and affordable units also performed well, with areas including Clayton South, Albion and Dandenong North among the best.
Property Home Base founder Julie DeBondt-Barker said homes from $600,000 up to $1.5m had been the most popular for buyers across the city, but that it had been first-home buyers who had driven a lot of the activity.
“And lots of them were renters, though many still needed the bank of mum and dad supporting them,” Ms DeBondt-Barker said.
However, the buyer’s advocate noted that there had been a strong start to 2025 from interstate investors — making her confident that by the end of this year Melbourne would be back to a growth market.
“There will be a perfect storm,” she said.
4/6 Bevan Ave, Clayton South sold in December for $777,000. Clayton South was the top growth area for units in 2024 according to the REIV.
“With interest rates dropping, I think prices will go up within six weeks of that, and that will drive a flurry of more investment coming in — as well as first-home buyers trying to time it.
“So we will see growth, but in the back half of the year. Until then it will be pretty flatlined.”
With coastal suburbs and regional areas heavily represented among the poorer performing markets in the past year, Mr Caine said those recording losses had typically been “normalising” after growth spurts during the pandemic.
The Mornington Peninsula was also highly represented for loss making suburbs as people sold off holiday homes amid the cost of living crisis.
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