Geelong’s 10 best suburbs over the past 10 years revealed

Geelong’s northern suburbs have been the pick of the bunch as far as the best capital growth over the past 10 years.

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Property owners who overlooked common complaints about buying in Geelong’s north are laughing now as new data reveals it’s the best performing area over the past 10 years.

The PropTrack figures show affordable suburbs such as Norlane, Corio, Bell Post Hill and North Geelong eclipsed the city’s more well-heeled areas with the best average annual growth across the decade.

And to top it off, the median house price doubled in Norlane, Bell Post Hill and North Geelong between 2015 and 2025, and came within $1000 in Corio.

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Geelong’s most blue chip and richest suburb, Newtown saw average annual growth of 7.1 per cent since 2015 to see the median house price rise from $635,000 to $1.26m.

Every other suburb in the top 10 had a median house price below $700,000 – which was the price recorded in Belmont after average annual growth of 6.7 per cent.

Newcomb, Herne Hill, Bell Park and Whittington rounded out the top 10.

The decade takes in at least two property cycles, including the highs of the property boom through 2021 and 2022 and the subsequent correction.

Geelong buyers advocate Tony Slack said the rising affordable suburbs weren’t a surprise as they were coming off a low base.

“But I wouldn’t have thought they’ve make up the top four,” he said.

The three-bedroom house at 17 Peacock Ave, Norlane, is listed for sale with $560,000 to $600,000 price hopes.

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The five-bedroom house at 17 Neill St, Bell Post Hill, is listed for sale with price hopes from $899,000 to $979,000.

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The three-bedroom house at 41 Guthrie Ave, North Geelong, was listed for sale this month with price hopes from $820,000 to $870,000.

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GEELONG’S 10 BEST SUBURBS OVER 10 YEARS

Source: PropTrack. Suburbs ranked by highest average annual change in median price over 10 years.

“It makes sense over 10 years because all the buyers coming in to the region who can pay this amount of money – they can basically be rented and be cashflow positive with the interest rates where they were four or five years ago.

“On a such an entry level price the yields were probably better than anywhere in Australia.”

Harcourts North Geelong director Joe Grgic said the relatively small size of the city meant property owners in the north shared the benefits of the amenities across the region.

“There has always been a common misconception with Corio and Norlane about their growth because they’ve always been entry level,” Mr Grgic said.

“When I started in real estate in 1999 the average price was $100,000 so when you’re getting growth of 10 per cent it probably doesn’t seem that significant.

The three-bedroom house at 40 Goldsworthy Rd, Corio is selling with price hopes from $419,000 to $459,000.

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The renovated and extended four-bedroom house at 28 West Fyans St, Newtown, is listed for sale with price hopes from $1.15m to $1.2m.

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“But in those two suburbs we’ve rarely had negative markets and when we have, they haven’t been negative for long.”

“There so many wonderful things from our education to our waterfront and our change in employment. Whether you move down here as an investor or an occupier, the opportunities are huge and we’re still only 50 minutes from Melbourne.”

Mr Grgic pointed to northern suburbs’ schools such as Kardinia International and Covenant colleges, and Western Heights College’s sports academy and an accelerated learning program at North Geelong Secondary College.

It’s a point not lost on out-of-town investors, who are making a comeback in the region, often sending buyers agents with a “shopping list” for clients.

“They look at the value and their perception, which I agree with, is we’ve had a trough and there is only one way to go.”

Harcourts, North Geelong agent Joe Grgic said there are plenty of benefits to living in Geelong’s northern suburbs.

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The three-bedroom house at 29 Hughes St, Bell Park, is listed for sale with $578,000 price hopes.

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The three-bedroom house at 1 Cheltenham Rd, Newcomb, sold recently for $770,000.

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Geelong Real Estate Co director Jess Templeton said investors were also active in suburbs such as Newcomb, where the median house price sits at $559,250.

Ms Templeton said Newcomb is attracting a good range of families and investors.

“They’ve obviously put a lot of research into Newcomb. They look, for the most part, for anything over 500sq m of land, nothing with major defects, but that’s a big part of that market, as well as families.

“We’re seeing huge numbers of first-home buyers, but it depends on the property. We just sold one in Cheltenham Rd for $770,000 which is a good price for Newcomb.”

Whitford Property director John Moran said Newtown would always be Geelong’s number one suburb, given the quality of the homes and the schools precinct home to Sacred Heart, St Joseph’s and The Geelong Colleges.

Whitford agent John Moran said schools are a big driver for buyers in Newtown.

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The four-bedroom house at 5 Albert Terrace, Belmont, is listed for sale with price hopes from $1.15m to $1.25m.

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The three-bedroom house at 17 Bakewell St, Herne Hill, sold for $621,000.

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“Obviously the location with all the schools that Geelong is renowned for, Pakington St, access to Kardinia Park, Newtown’s got it all,” he said.

“There’s not going to be another suburb that comes up and takes that mantle from Newtown as number one suburb.”

Newtown is a reliable market where families looking to buy homes close to the suburb’s private schools is the core market.

“Even if you look at the last couple of years, the stock levels in Newtown were down quite dramatically but yet, still you’re seeing growth,” he said.

Interest rate cuts would also help feed into future growth, he said.

Larger block sizes underpins the value in Newtown, Mr Moran said, while families who are renovating their homes and adding swimming pools and tennis courts are raising the bar further.

Geelong buyers advocate Tony Slack said an influx of buyers from outside the city had boosted values in areas traditionally more affordable.

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“There’s some exceptional homes in Newtown these days,” he said.

“If you’ve got a big land component that’s obviously a huge factor for character homes.

“But if you’ve got a tennis court, and the right buyer, they’re willing to pay a premium for that.”

Mr Slack said the influx of more buyers relocating from Melbourne over the decade had blurred the lines in some Geelong areas, resulting in overall price growth.

“This is something I’ve always said about Belmont. It’s made up of four segments, markets within markets because of the size of the suburb geographically,” Mr Slack said.

“What’s happened during that time is the lines were blurred. I saw that particularly from buyers outside the region that didn’t have an understanding of what was A and B-grade Belmont and with respect, C and D-grade Belmont.

“Many times since then we saw some prices achieved in C and D-grade Belmont that were more in line with the A-grade Belmont.”