June 1, 2015
Median house prices in Mount Waverley and Glen Waverley have exceeded $1 million while neighbouring suburb Chadstone sits on an average of $835,000. Graph by: Shirin Motamedi
By Shirin Motamedi
PURCHASING a home in Mount Waverley for under $1 million is fast becoming a distant memory for home buyers, CoreLogic RP Data figures reveal.
More than 170 homes sold for seven figures in Mount Waverley in the 12 months to November 2014, placing it tenth on the million-dollar list behind Balwyn and Malvern East.
Five years ago Mount Waverley and Glen Waverley were not mentioned in the top-10 list, but today these two Monash suburbs rub shoulders with some of Melbourne’s most affluent postcodes.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria spokesman Paul Bird said low interest rates had made the housing market in Melbourne far more attractive to home buyers.
“The low interest rate environment has helped boost consumer confidence, which has driven demand in the auction market over the last two years,” Mr Bird said.
The median house price in Mount Waverley topped $1.1 million last month.
“Mount Waverley in particular has experienced 35 per cent growth in house prices over the last six months,” Mr Bird said.
The same level of growth has not occurred in the neighbouring suburb, Chadstone.
“Mount Waverley and Chadstone have completely different dynamics. The Mount Waverley Secondary School as well as the Sienna residential development project has been having a great deal of influence on buyers,” Mr Bird said.
Despite the close proximity of Mount Waverley and Chadstone (as indicated by the red stars), residential prices of the two suburbs vary significantly.
Hocking Stuart Glen Waverley director Nick Brennan said the redevelopment of Chadstone shopping centre may not necessarily be enough to make the suburb more attractive to investors and home buyers.
“A large shopping centre could benefit many locals, however some future buyers may see the new changes as potentially being too great an imposition on a suburb,” Mr Brennan said.
“Ultimately the expansion is likely to have a neutral outcome which will act to balance potential buyer interest and sale prices in the future.”
Mr Brennan said it would be highly unlikely for homes in Chadstone to ever receive the same level of demand as seen in Mount Waverley and Glen Waverley.
“Glen Waverley is fast becoming one of the most desirable suburbs in Melbourne within the Chinese community,” Mr Brennan said.
“There has been a sharp rise in the number of homes put on auction and we will soon start to see a huge increase in home sales of $3 million plus.”
A dated brick home in Glen Waverley is tipped to smash sales records when it goes under the hammer later this month.
Life of a Monash Student - Shirin Motamedi 