Geelong’s investor hotspot suburbs for houses and units have been revealed in new PropTrack research.
It’s a well-worn cliche that now is always the best time to buy in real estate.
But new research reveals why this spring could be the last chance to buy at the bottom of the property cycle in Geelong before rising demand kicks off a new round of price rises.
New PropTrack data reveals the Geelong housing hotspots with the best combination of price growth, rental returns and days on market for vacant properties.
PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said regional areas were often better, with higher rental returns and affordable purchase prices.
But Geelong’s price growth remains low after a two-year downturn.
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The research identified Charlemont, St Albans Park, Whittington, Bannockburn and Corio as the best hotspots for houses, while Hamlyn Heights, Belmont, Grovedale, Highton and Lara were the best unit suburbs.
No Geelong suburb features in PropTrack’s top 200 investor suburbs.
“Geelong hasn’t seen the level of growth that other parts of the country have by quite a wide margin, so it is just a much more affordable entry point than is true in some of those historically more affordable markets,” Mr Moore said.
“It doesn’t mean it’s primed for growth in the next six months, but over the longer horizon, which is probably more relevant for most investors,” he said.
PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said price growth in Geelong is way off that of other regions.
The three-bedroom house at 11 Mollyan Ave, Charlemont, is listed for sale with price hopes from $580,000 to $610,000.
The three-bedroom house at 14 Ottoman Court, St Albans Park, is listed for sale with $649,000 to $689,000.
But rising population as more people leave capital cities to live near our coast is increasing the number of buyers and renters looking for property.
Plenty of purchasers are already betting the downturn is over.
Affordability is key to interest to rising interest in areas such as Corio and Whittington, but there are other reasons to purchase, said John O’Brien, a buyers agent and Henning Property director.
“The interesting one is the big shift in St Albans Park – we’ve seen in the past three months that’s really picked up.
“What we’re seeing across the board is four or five key indicators. That’s usually days on market sub 35 days, vacancy rates sub 2 per cent and typically a rental yield of 4 per cent seems to be the benchmark for a lot of investors coming from interstate.”
Geelong’s top five investor suburbs – houses
| Suburb | Median sale price |
12-month growth |
Rental yield |
Days on market |
| Charlemont | $626,000 | 3% | 4.3% | 21 |
| St Albans Park | $623,000 | 9% | 4.3% | 22 |
| Whittington | $538,000 | 6% | 4.5% | 25 |
| Bannockburn | $780,000 | 3% | 4% | 22 |
| Corio | $495,000 | 2% | 4.5% | 25 |
Geelong’s top five investor suburbs – houses
| Suburb | Median sale price |
12 month growth | Rental yield |
Days on market |
| Hamlyn Heights | $550,000 | 3% | 5% | 23 |
| Belmont | $521,000 | -4% | 4.8% | 21 |
| Grovedale | $495,000 | 0% | 4.7% | 22 |
| Highton | $517,000 | -2% | 4.8% | 23 |
| Lara | $460,000 | -5% | 4.8% | 22 |
Source: PropTrack
Charlemont is the only greenfield suburb, which investors typically avoid due to a high supply of new homes keeping a lid on price growth. But new homes also generate depreciation benefits.
Investors are adding to the heat from first-home buyers competing for cheaper properties.
“If you look at the property clock we’re probably in that stage of recovery,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Those numbers are all trending down, which in a good way in terms of trajectory – days on market, vacancy rates, stock on market being really tight – is creating this perfect storm.
Henning Property director John O’Brien said an expanded first-home guarantee scheme could fan demand for property this spring.
The three-bedroom house at 2C Levy Rd, Bannockburn, is listed for sale with price hopes from $720,000 to $770,000.
The three-bedroom house at 4 Hickey St, Whittington, is listed for sale with price hopes from $660,000 to $669,000.
The four-bedroom house at 35 Remington St, Corio, had a $450,000 reserve price but sold for $599,000 at auction.
“What we’re also hearing around local investors as well as first-time buyers is that sentiment has changed – everyone’s buoyed by a couple of rate cuts and that’s driving the market.”
Mr O’Brien said the expanded first-home deposit scheme rolling out on October 1 could compound demand later in spring.
“It’s going to mean that we’ve got very little supply and it’s fiercely contested.”
The results are evident in hotspots already, with rising off-market sales and hot auctions for competitively priced properties.
There were 10 bidders in the street or on Zoom at a Corio auction where a four-bedroom house offered as part of a deceased estate had a $450,000 reserve price.
The opening bid was $470,000 as the property sold for $599,000 to a Melbourne investor. But quite a few owner-occupiers missed out, Hayeswinckle Geelong agent Kin Sawhney said.
The three-bedroom townhouse at 21 Robb Ave, Hamlyn Heights, is listed for sale with price hopes from $699,000 to $749,000.
The three-bedroom townhouse at 2B Regent St, Belmont, is listed for sale from $749,000 to $818,000.
The two-bedroom apartment at 4/54 Barrabool Rd, Highton, is listed for sale with price hopes from $570,000 to $625,000.
“The rental return expected from this is about $480 to $500 per week. If you get $500 per week and they’ve paid about $600,000 so it’s still a decent investment and the property’s in a good shape,” he said.
Barry Plant Geelong agent Kieron Hunter also saw competition in Belmont, where a three-bedroom house sold for $766,000, nearly $80,000 above price hopes for a 688sq m Lloyd St property.
“We had offers around the top end of the range, which is high-$600,000 during the campaign and were pretty tempted, but I told them to hang in there and auctioned it,” Mr Hunter said.
“He’s an investor. I think he wants to hold it, maybe subdivide it down the track.”
“It was a one-owner house, so it was well looked after. That put it in the best light possible.”
Mr Hunter said anything priced under $800,000 was attracting equal interest from owner occupiers and investors.
“I haven’t seen this many investors since 2020. It’s really pushing up the low end, which will in turn will have an effect on the rest of the market.”
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