House prices are starting to stabilise across the Bellarine according to recent Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) data.
The data released on January 15 found that house prices decreased in Barwon Heads by 4.1 per cent, Ocean Grove by 2.6 per cent, Point Lonsdale by 1.2 per cent and Clifton Springs by 0.7 per cent.
Barwon Heads house prices averaged $1.82 million, followed by Queenscliff ($1.8 million), Point Lonsdale ($1.37 million), Ocean Grove ($990,000), Portarlington ($960,000), Curlewis ($780,000), St Leonards ($754,000), Drysdale ($717,000), and Clifton Springs ($675,000).
Hodges Ocean Grove’s Jason Burmistrow said the market had seen a “fairly large correction” in the last 12 months.
“Over the last three months, we’ve seen prices stabilise, and we’re pretty confident that going forward this year, we’ll see the stabilisation of prices,” he said.
“We’re starting to see them stabilise because we’re starting to see days on the market reduce, and that’s just because buyers have got confidence now to buy something.”
The state average for the number of days a house is on the market before selling is 58 days, with an average of only 37 days in Portarlington and 38 days in Clifton Springs. It took 83 days on average for a house in Barwon Heads to sell.
Mr Burmistrow said he was starting to see a “normal market” where properties are priced correctly, presented well, and selling in a reasonable time frame.
“During the middle of last year, a lot of people wanted to sell but couldn’t because there just wasn’t buyer activity,” he said.
“People can look forward to having a little more confidence that if they present their property well and price it well, they’ll get a good result.
“Same for buyers, they can have a bit of confidence going forward that if they buy something this year that it’s not going to be worth 15 per cent less in six months time.”
REIV president Jacob Caine said 2023 delivered “much-needed stability” to the state’s property market.
“It’s created plenty of attractive opportunities for buyers and vendors alike across metro Melbourne and regional Victoria, and weekly transaction activity is holding strong,” he said.
