The 2023/24 financial year was influenced by interest rate and Land Tax rises which has had a dampening effect on the Surfcoast property market. When we say a dampening effect, we are really comparing the performance to the Covid period where we saw unsustainable capital gains and high sales volumes.
With those drivers having dissipated it is not unexpected to see some reduction in the median house prices back to more sustainable levels. We are still ahead of the pre-Covid price points, but the offerings need to make sense at present for the buyers to engage.
So, let’s look at the performance of each of the towns during this period. As a reference, these sales are house sales, that is, a free-standing dwelling on its own title. We do not include land sales or units although freestanding dwellings with common driveways are included. The median house price is calculated as the “middle” price when all the sales are ranked from lowest to highest.
Torquay continues to be a very active owner-occupier market with 272 house sales for the financial year, which was down from 241 in the 22/23 financial year. The median house price has been calculated at $1,210,000 which is down from the previous financial year of $1,300,000 in 22/23. The top sale for the year at $7,900,000.
Jan Juc recorded 36 house sales, slightly up from 34 in 22/23, with the median house price coming in at $1,272,000 which was down from $1,325,000 in the previous financial year. The top sale for Jan Juc was a substantial $3,550,000.
Anglesea saw 62 house sales recorded for the financial year, which was exactly the same as in 2022/23. The median house price was $1,460,000, which was well down from $1,710,000 the year before. The top sale for the year was $5,300,00. With the amount of sales being the same this year, this is a clear indication of what price sectors have been selling and what have not. 42 of the 62 sales were below $2,000,000. In fact, there was only one sale above $3,000,000 for the financial year which was the top sale indicated.
Aireys Inlet recorded 25 house sales for the 2023/24 financial year which was a slight increase from 23 in the 2022/23 financial year. The median house price came in at $1,600,000 down from $1,800,000 the previous year. The top sale was $3,310,000 (sold by Great Ocean Properties). There were 14 sales recorded between $1m – $2m, 6 sales between $2m and $3m and 4 sales $3m or above.
Due to the low numbers of sales, we have always grouped Fairhaven, Moggs Creek and Eastern View together. There are only 863 rateable properties in this area. There were 12 sales for the financial year, which was same as the year before. For context the average amount of sales over the past 28 years has been 18. The median house price came in at $2,350,000, which was up from $2,125,000 the year before (with the low number of sample numbers this figure does move around depending on what sold that year). The top sale for the year was $3,700,000 (sold by Great Ocean Properties). There were 2 sales between $1m-$2m, 8 between above $2m and $3m and 2 above $3m.
Lorne saw the total number of house sales at 24, down from the previous year’s 34. The median house price dipped to $1,910,000 which was $2,100,000 the year before. The top sale for the year however was $4,000,000. There were 15 sales between $1m – $2m, 8 sales between $2m – $3m, 1 above $3m and 1 at $4m which was the top sale. Again, a strong indication of what price points have been selling.
Apollo Bay, Skenes Creek, Marengo and Wongarra: recorded 34 house sales for the year, down from the previous year, with the median house price coming in at $935,00, steady from $932,500 in the previous year. The top sale for the year was $2,350,000 (sold by Great Ocean Properties).
In summary, it is clear that the lower price points have been much more active than the higher price points and this a direct correlation with the amount of Land Tax liability that the higher price points now attract if they are not to be a permanent home.
We know that the emotional attachment to the Surf coast and Great Ocean Road in general remains ongoing. The coast remains a beautiful and safe destination to live and spend leisure time with good access to Geelong and Melbourne. As Melbourne continues to grow in population however, we feel that the Surfcoast will continue to appeal to many who are looking for an alternative place to live. With this in mind looking forward, we feel there will be a bias in the market towards homes that are of a permanent home quality (and therefore not liable for Land Tax) and lifestyle homes in the more affordable price brackets as demonstrated by this price data.
We hope you found this Great Ocean Report informative and if we can ever be of any assistance in any real estate matter, please do not hesitate to call.