Latest news with #GeelongRealEstate
News.com.au
23-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Geelong suburbs where buying is better than renting revealed
More Geelong suburbs are within reach of renters trying to break into the housing market after this week's interest rate cut, new analysis shows. Research from Finder reveals it's already better to buy a unit than lease one in Geelong West and Whittington. The Reserve Bank's decision to cut rates by another 25 basis points further opens the door to other suburbs by shrinking the gap between more expensive weekly mortgage repayments and rents to less than $50 a week for units in Norlane, Bell Post Hill, Lara, Herne Hill and Manifold Heights. There's a further glimmer of hope in the house market, with renters needing to find less than $100 extra a week to buy in Norlane and Breakwater. The research assumes homeowners purchase at the current suburb median price, with a 20 per cent deposit, a 5.81 per cent interest rate and a 30-year loan term. When the rate cut is passed on, paying off the mortgage on a unit would be $30 a week cheaper than renting in Geelong West and $17 cheaper in Whittington. This would increase to a saving of $41 and $28 a week respectively, if the RBA cut rates again. Geelong Real Estate Co director Ricky Forte said Geelong West units remained one of the few affordable footholds into the market. 'With median prices around $500,000, it's a way to break free of rising rents without sacrificing location,' Mr Forte said. 'You can buy a neat two-bed unit here for the same weekly cost as renting and you're walking distance to everything.' He said crunching the numbers around paying off a mortgage versus rent had become a serious part of decision-making for homebuyers. But Doolan Finance mortgage broker Sarah Daly said it wasn't the only consideration, as renters had to factor in security and future returns. 'Even though rent is expensive with the way rates are, it is still more affordable, in most cases, to rent. But what does that look like long term?,' Ms Daly said. 'Just because it's more affordable to rent you're not taking into account your future growth of assets so I think it's got to be looked at as to whether you can versus whether you should.' She said confidence was returning to the Geelong market, with inquiries increasing on the back of the first rate cut. Hayeswinckle, East Geelong agent Tiffany Simpson said it was prime time for first-home buyers, who felt more confident to use their full borrowing capacity than they did 12 months ago. 'It is an opportune time because I don't think there's going to be any incremental increases, if anything there will be slow cuts,' she said. 'It is trending in the right way, and it may not be significant right now, however if you're able to secure something now going forward it should become more affordable. 'If you wait too long then you will miss out because the competition will only increase.' RENTING VERSUS BUYING IN GEELONG Suburb Property type Median asking rent (weekly) Repayments (weekly) after this week's cut Difference between repayment and rent Difference between repayment and rent after 3rd rate cut Anglesea H $600 $1464 -$864 -$825 Armstrong Creek H $530 $705 -$175 -$156 Bannockburn H $590 $851 -$261 -$238 Barwon Heads U $640 $1117 -$477 -$447 Barwon Heads H $660 $1540 -$880 -$838 Bell Park U $465 $550 -$85 -$70 Bell Park H $490 $663 -$173 -$155 Bell Post Hill U $450 $472 -$22 -$10 Bell Post Hill H $520 $716 -$196 -$176 Belmont U $440 $583 -$143 -$128 Belmont H $490 $759 -$269 -$249 Breakwater H $463 $556 -$93 -$78 Charlemont H $520 $667 -$147 -$129 Clifton Springs H $495 $708 -$213 -$194 Corio U $350 $412 -$62 -$51 Corio H $420 $531 -$111 -$97 Curlewis H $515 $692 -$177 -$158 Drysdale U $450 $594 -$144 -$128 Drysdale H $500 $770 -$270 -$249 East Geelong H $520 $830 -$310 -$287 Fyansford H $650 $1065 -$415 -$387 Geelong U $520 $667 -$147 -$129 Geelong H $550 $954 -$404 -$379 Geelong West U $450 $420 $30 $41 Geelong West H $530 $922 -$392 -$367 Grovedale U $435 $538 -$103 -$89 Grovedale H $510 $719 -$209 -$190 Hamlyn Heights U $425 $576 -$151 -$135 Hamlyn Heights H $490 $781 -$291 -$270 Herne Hill U $370 $399 -$29 -$18 Herne Hill H $470 $759 -$289 -$269 Highton U $440 $542 -$102 -$88 Highton H $550 $934 -$384 -$359 Indented Head H $460 $759 -$299 -$279 Jan Juc H $680 $1377 -$697 -$660 Lara U $460 $485 -$25 -$12 Lara H $560 $737 -$177 -$158 Leopold U $440 $524 -$84 -$70 Leopold H $500 $705 -$205 -$186 Lorne U $600 $954 -$354 -$329 Lorne H $680 $1689 -$1009 -$963 Lovely Banks H $580 $911 -$331 -$306 Manifold Heights U $350 $395 -$45 -$34 Manifold Heights H $510 $1366 -$856 -$820 Marshall H $495 $683 -$188 -$170 Mount Duneed H $550 $759 -$209 -$189 Newcomb U $390 $518 -$128 -$114 Newcomb H $450 $596 -$146 -$130 Newtown U $450 $624 -$174 -$157 Newtown H $578 $1247 -$669 -$635 Norlane U $400 $412 -$12 -$1 Norlane H $400 $489 -$89 -$76 North Geelong H $465 $661 -$196 -$179 Ocean Grove U $500 $804 -$304 -$282 Ocean Grove H $580 $1036 -$456 -$428 Point Lonsdale H $620 $1309 -$689 -$654 Portarlington U $450 $765 -$315 -$294 Portarlington H $490 $936 -$446 -$421 Queenscliff H $530 $1735 -$1205 -$1158 Rippleside H $605 $1334 -$729 -$693 St Albans Park H $475 $634 -$159 -$142 St Leonards U $430 $619 -$189 -$173 St Leonards H $480 $781 -$301 -$280 Thomson H $440 $556 -$116 -$101 Torquay U $620 $954 -$334 -$309 Torquay H $690 $1274 -$584 -$550 Wandana Heights H $653 $1003 -$350 -$323 Waurn Ponds H $520 $830 -$310 -$288 Whittington U $413 $396 $17 $28 Whittington H $450 $574 -$124 -$108 Source: Finder. Assumes homeowners purchase at the current suburb median price, with a 20 per cent deposit, a 5.81 per cent interest rate and a 30-year loan term.
News.com.au
16-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Geelong suburbs where sellers home prices hold or fold revealed
Fresh data has revealed the Geelong suburbs where buyers or sellers have the upper hand when it comes to sticking to their guns on price expectations. The PropTrack figures for vendor discounting – where homes sold by private treaty saw the biggest drop between the original advertised price and what buyers ultimately agree to pay – reveals the suburbs where buyers are able to negotiate the best deals. Coastal areas remained the best buyers' markets over the past 12 months, with prices sliding a median 8.3 per cent in Anglesea and Point Lonsdale between listing and sale, and close to 8 per cent in Portarlington and Barwon Heads. Barwon Heads has experienced an overall 20.7 per cent drop in median house price in 12 months to May (to $1.42m), PropTrack data shows, with the vendor discounting data showing sellers continue to grapple with where value sits in the Bellarine Peninsula hot spot. Pricing homes proved more stable across urban Geelong, with discounting most prevalent across the expensive inner suburbs, especially central Geelong, but also Manifold Heights, Newtown and Geelong West. Prices ebbed the most for central Geelong apartments, with a 5.7 per cent median discount between listing and sale. Sellers had it best in areas such as Armstrong Creek, Belmont, Corio, Grovedale, Lara and Newcomb, where the PropTrack data recorded a median vendor discount of zero. Hayeswinckle, Highton director Michelle Winckle said discounting price guides was more prevalent in more expensive inner suburbs where there were fewer buyers competing for homes. The data shows prices were most stable in Geelong's northern and southern suburbs. 'It's at a lower level where there's more people competing,' she said. Geelong's property market has endured a turbulent 24 months, with prices overall trending down until recently. Ms Winckle said price expectations were often changed to make homes more competitive in the marketplace. 'You often don't know until you've started a campaign and it's just not grabbing the market, so it needs to be adjusted,' Ms Winckle said. 'Quite often, it can still sell at what they originally wanted. It's just about changing up the strategy.' Buyers advocate Michael Ramsay said more properties were selling in coastal markets since interest rates were cut, though there were still examples of homes being listed at prices well above what the market considered fair. That was a sign that prices guides were getting closer to buyers expectations compared to the start of the year, Mr Ramsay said. SuburbData analyst Jeremy Sheppard said there's a correlation between higher discounts and softer demand. Buying in an area where vendors were accepting offers well below list prices often came with a downside, Mr Sheppard said. 'Bargain hunting is great if you're simply seeking a roof over your head and you plan to stay in the property for 20 years, but from an investment point of view it's not always good,' he said. '(In a high discount area) you'd have to be confident that you wouldn't need to sell for some time as it will be more difficult for sellers … if you're holding for the long term, this won't be an issue as the market will eventually balance out. All areas will eventually grow if given enough time.' GEELONG MEDIAN VENDOR DISCOUNT FIGURES Suburb Property type Median sale price Median vendor discount Point Lonsdale H $1,207,500 -8.3 Anglesea H $1,350,000 -8.3 Portarlington H $863,500 -7.9 Barwon Heads H $1,420,000 -7.8 Jan Juc H $1,270,000 -5.9 St Leonards H $720,000 -5.8 Geelong U $615,000 -5.7 Ocean Grove U $741,000 -5.4 Winchelsea H $650,000 -5.1 Geelong H $880,000 -4.4 Torquay H $1,175,000 -3.6 Newtown U $575,000 -3.4 Manifold Heights H $1,260,000 -3.1 Newtown H $1,150,000 -2.7 Ocean Grove H $955,000 -2.6 Geelong West H $850,000 -1.8 Drysdale H $710,000 -1.3 Lara U $447,500 -1.3 Belmont U $538,000 -1.1 Norlane H $451,000 -1 Grovedale U $496,250 -1 Highton H $861,000 -0.9 Clifton Springs H $652,600 -0.9 Leopold H $650,000 -0.7 Bannockburn H $785,000 -0.7 Hamlyn Heights H $720,000 -0.6 Herne Hill U $368,000 -0.6 Wandana Heights H $925,000 -0.5 Marshall H $630,000 -0.1 Armstrong Creek H $650,000 0 Lara H $680,000 0 Corio H $490,000 0 Belmont H $700,000 0 Mount Duneed H $700,000 0 Grovedale H $663,000 0 Charlemont H $615,500 0 Highton U $500,000 0 Bell Post Hill H $660,000 0 Bell Park H $611,000 0 Curlewis H $638,250 0 Newcomb H $550,000 0 Waurn Ponds H $765,500 0 St Albans Park H $585,000 0 Whittington H $529,000 0 Herne Hill H $700,000 0 North Geelong H $610,000 0 Geelong West U $387,500 0 East Geelong H $765,000 0 Hamlyn Heights U $530,750 0 Thomson H $512,500 0 Lovely Banks H $840,000 0 Source: PropTrack. Median vendor discount for homes sold in 12 months to May 2025. Excludes suburbs with less than 30 sales.
