Newtown house prices slump as blue-ribbon suburb loses $1m status

The five-bedroom Layton Crescent home was one of three above $3m in 2025.

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Owners are giving ground on price expectations for high-end properties to entice buyers to the table in Geelong’s most prestigious suburb, new data shows.

Geelong’s list of million-dollar suburbs has lost a notable entrant at the start of 2026, as the number of high-end property sales continues to stagnate.

The median house price in Newtown dropped below $1m for the first time since 2021, the new PropTrack data shows.

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The data reveals an 18.8 per cent annual decline in Newtown’s median house price to $992,500.

Twelve months ago, a typical house in Newtown cost $1.2m – a figure that had gained 8.4 per cent from 2024.

Analysis reveals the top-end of Newtown’s property market represents nearly 10 per cent of the houses listed for sale in the city’s traditional blue ribbon suburb.

In each of the previous two years, 16 Newtown homes changed hands in deals worth more than $2m.

But just three homes were worth more than $3m to buyers in 2025, compared to five in 2024 – when the two highest sales that year were $5.65m and $4.4m.

$2m+ Newtown listings on market for more than 100 days

Source: Cotality

Newtown’s Raith is on the market with expectations from $7.5m to $8.25m.

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There are presently seven homes on the market in Newtown with asking prices above $3m, and another six with expectations set above $2m.

Home sales worth more than $2m took an average 136 days to wrap up in Newtown in 2025, compared to 58 days across the entire market, according to PropTrack data.

PropTrack data shows sellers who discounted their initial price expectations by a median 2.5 per cent in 2025.

Whitford Newtown director John Moran said the number of top end sales had dried up.

“It certainly has come to play with the median house price dipping below $1m. Hopefully this is a better year,” Mr Moran said.

The luxury four-bedroom house at 10 Mercer Pde, Newtown, is on the market for $3.95m to $4.345m.

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“There’s certainly some good high-end properties out there – it’s just the buyers are few and far between.”

Mr Moran said the high-end market had been “ticking along nicely” before the Reserve Bank increased interest rates 13 times.

“It’s only really in the last months that we’ve seen it’s really come into play that the buyers are keeping their hands in their pockets when it comes to high-end properties,” he said. “But it won’t last forever.”

Where are Geelong’s high-end properties listed for sale

Source: PropTrack. Top 10 suburbs with most high-end property listings, ranked by $2m+.

Three Geelong suburbs still hold $1m median house prices, including Manifold Heights which saw a bigger decline over 2025 than Newtown, dropping 19.8 per cent to $1.01m.

Wandana Heights and Rippleside maintained median prices above $1m in the latest data off the back of strong growth.

38 Clarke St, Newtown, sold in late 2025 for $2.2m.

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Geelong buyers advocate Tony Slack said the level of demand for higher-end property also reflected buyers’ tastes compared to what types of properties were on offer.

“I think that sometimes we can look at the comparables and the land size and location and the size of the dwelling, and often they might be relatively new builds as well that don’t have the same appeal as traditional period homes,” Mr Slack said.

“Yes at the top end buyers are a little thinner on the ground. Certainly the sub-$2m market is very strong. There’s been (homes) that have sat on the market a lot longer than people expected them to.

“The majority of buyers looking at Newtown with a budget of $3m-plus are looking for that traditional period home.”