Trish Sethi and Gaurav Sharma, with 19-month-old daughter Anairaa, are among the many Victorian families who have dealt with rising home loan and interest rates in the past few years. Pictures: Ian Currie/Supplied.
Melbourne suburbs where average monthly home loan repayments have grown least across the past decade include both outer city and inner areas.
New research from online financial comparison service Compare the Market shows the state’s average $427,000 mortgage of 2015 surged to $647,000 by 2025, despite similar interest rates across both timelines.
Compare the Market analysis of PropTrack data revealed that across Greater Melbourne, Cranbourne South had the lowest increase in average yearly mortgage repayments across the decade.
RELATED: Chinese buyers dominate foreign-owned property, new data reveals
Australian homes face six-figure price surge amid housing shortfall
First-home buyers to make $100k profit on Frankston North house
The suburb in Melbourne’s outer south east recorded a $2797 rise, based on a $799,500 median house price in 2025.
Next was Carlton on $7332 with a $1.379m median and Strathtulloh, near Melton, at $11,140 with a $630,00 median.
The repayments are based on a 30-year loan paying principal and interest, assuming a 20 per cent deposit.
Compare the Market cautioned their report should not be relied upon in lieu of appropriate professional advice.
Greater Melbourne’s median house price increased from $700,000 in 2015 to $1.012m in 2025. Picture: Nicole Garmston.
Suburbs rounding out the top five were Braybrook with a $11,687 average annual home loan increase cost and Maribyrnong on $12,266.
Braybrook’s typical house value is $760,000 and Maribyrnong is $1,021,500m.
Maidstone, Longwarry, Harkness, Laverton and Westmeadows were next on the list with yearly average hikes ranging from $12,818 to $13,803.
This Braybrook house sold for $750,000 in 2025. The suburb’s median house value is $760,000.
Braybrook and Maribyrnong are both in Melbourne’s northwest, close to Maidstone which has a $835,000 median house price.
Longwarry, with a $572,500 house median, is a town 83 kilometres south east of Melbourne’s CBD.
Harkness has a $575,000 median in the city’s outer west and Laverton a $610,000 median in the western suburbs, close to Altona.
About 3km from Broadmeadows in the northern suburbs is Westmeadows with a $701,250 typical house value.
In comparison, Greater Melbourne’s median house price has increased from $700,000 in 2015 to $1.012m in 2025.
Trish Sethi and Gaurav Sharma, with 19-month-old daughter Anairaa, at their home in Melbourne’s outer west. Picture: Ian Currie.
A family from Melbourne’s outer west, wife and husband Trish Sethi and Gaurav Sharma who have a 19-month-old daughter named Anairaa, have made tough financial calls while navigating rising home loans and interest rates in recent years.
In 2025, the couple sold their investment property due to the burden of paying two mortgages.
Ms Sethi said it was a sad occasion but felt like the right thing to do as the cost of living skyrocketed.
“It was just harder to keep up,” Ms Sethi said
“And wages are not going up – salaries are the same, but everything else is increasing.”
Interest rates have risen significantly across Australia since the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.
They listed their three-bedroom investment property, also in Melbourne’s western suburbs, through Ray White Truganina’s Prerak Bist.
Ms Sethi and Mr Sharma bought the house where they live in 2020, while Mr Sharma started his own Truganina-based transport and logistics business, Tag Xpress, two months ago.
To cut back on everyday expenses, they buy groceries on special or in bulk, have limited online shopping and set a food and travel budget.
“I have never done that in the past but now with a child and the growing cost of living, I think that just saves us some money,” Ms Sethi said.
In Maribyrnong, this four-bedroom house changed hands for $1.051m last year. The suburb has a $1,021,500m median house value.
As a homeowner, she welcomed rising property values but said she was also concerned about affordability trends as she thinks of Anairaa’s future.
However, the couple who both immigrated to Australia as students said they were grateful to live in a nation where they were able to buy a house as young adults.
“I don’t think I would be able to own a house in my thirties back in Mumbai,” Ms Sethi said.
She and her husband are hoping to upgrade to a larger home in the future and are open to potentially purchasing another investment property, depending on how the market fares.
In December, Melbourne units’ median value hit a $630,000 typical price, PropTrack datat shows. This includes apartments, units and townhouses. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Mr Bist said a lot of Victorian investors were selling up as mortgages and land tax grew more expensive, although many interstate investors had swooped in to snap their properties up.
He said only a small number of owner-occupiers in Truganina and nearby Tarneit, suburbs in Melbourne’s outer west, had put homes on the market due to struggling with home loans.
“Because a house is an important thing for them, they don’t want to get rid of it and they’re cutting other costs instead,” he said.
Compare The Market property expert Andrew Winter says homebuyers should shop around for the best mortgage rates. Picture: Luke Marsden.
According to PropTrack, Tarneit has a $665,000 median house price and Truganina $670,344.
Mr Bist said both Truganina and Tarneit attracted many families and young couples.
“It’s very nice area because schools are good and so are the parks,” he added.
“It just feels like more of a community when there are more owner-occupiers living in an area.”
Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
MORE: Manor Lakes Hub confirms tenants as Wendy’s talks stay quiet | Ranfurlie
Pat Rafter lists Australian Open for sale as tennis star turns agent
English (US) · 