By NICOLE VALICEK
MEDIAN house prices in Williamstown have hit a new high topping the list as the only western suburb to reach top dollar.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s (REIV) median house prices for the December 2013 quarter revealed the Williamstown house median hit $1 million, making it the only suburb in the West to reach six digits.
“This was achieved following strong quarterly growth of 19 per cent (and 16.6 per cent annually) for the suburb,” REIV CEO Enzo Raimondo said.
Mr Raimondo said the quarterly results across Melbourne showed a strong quarter at the end of a year of growth in median prices and that “Williamstown has been a key part of this growth”.
Williamstown joins a growing list of suburbs valued at $1 million and over including Sandringham, Hampton, Port Melbourne and Malvern.
“Across Melbourne, the driver of house price growth was the consistently low interest rates throughout 2013 – which, in all likelihood, helped to lift prices to all-new levels in Williamstown.”
Altona also recorded strong growth, increasing by 9.9 per cent for the quarter and 13 per cent for the year to a median house price of $605,000.
Other REIV data shows median house prices in Hobson Bay has risen across the board.
Altona North and Newport recorded increases compared to data from the June 2013 quarter. In June 2013 Altona North recorded a median house price of $490,000 compared to $547,500 this quarter and Newport recorded a median house price of $741,750 compared to $671,000 last June.
Compton Green Real Estate director Adrian Butera said one change that increased median house prices in Williamstown was buyer confidence in the mid to higher end properties and “with that confidence came the results”.
“As we step into 2014 were going to be looking very closely at our auctions over the next few weeks.”
He said a home owner trend in the inner West was to sell property and buy back property in the inner West.
“People will continue to stay (in the West) and that momentum will continue.”
