Max Hatzoglou
House prices in Sunshine, St Albans and Keilor fell in the three months to March, new Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) data reveals.
Keilor recorded the biggest drop in prices, with the median house price falling 20 per cent from $1.18 million in December, 2021, to $953,000 in March this year.
The median price in Sunshine dropped five per cent from $933,000 during the same period, while St Albans’ median house price in March was $692,000 – down three per cent from $716,000 in December.
Create Real Estate director Steven Tabban described the changes in median house prices as a “price correction” in the market.
“I think even pre-COVID they were looking at seeing a price correction in the market because of the heavy bubble that sort of was built,” Mr Tabban said.
“Then through COVID, you had rises in the property market, which continued even after the lockdown.
“It’s probably been just recently, so I’d say after the end of summer, where the market has become a little bit more stagnant.
“But the results I think in the west are still quite level, they haven’t dropped, there hasn’t been too much drop in the market.”
Mr Tabban said the change in price was not a major surprise.
“I think that there needed to be stability or correction because pricing was becoming hard for everyday people to buy,” he said.
“The government has made substantial grants towards first home buyers which has seen quite a large amount of first home buyers make purchasers.
“That’s what’s caused a big push in the price going up, which is pricing out a lot of people as well.”
Mr Tabban said that major infrastructure projects such as the Sunshine Superhub will help make the suburb more appealing to buyers, which in turn will drive up house prices.
