Picture of St Georges blvd, Merrifield 

From an article by Jayitri Smiles, realestate.com.au
Sunday 05 January, 2020

Hospital improvements, booming business parks and level crossing removals are tipped to boost prices across many of Melbourne’s outer suburbs in 2020.

Yarra Junction, Hillside and Truganina are tipped as some of the city’s top performing pockets next year, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.

Clyde North, Lyndhurst and Mickleham have also been put on the peak industry body’s watch list.

Top pick Yarra Junction had its median house price increase 6.5 per cent to $590,000 in the 12 months to September 2019, according to REIV data.

Professionals Yarra Junction sales manager Chris Lord said more buyers would move to the affordable town as prices rose closer to the city.

“The biggest thing affecting us is that first-home buyers and families are getting priced out of the eastern suburbs and moving farther out from Lilydale, Mooroolbark and Croydon to find affordable homes,” Mr Lord said.

“There have been new developments, which lots of families are looking at to get in and buy. But the thing is, supply is not really going to be able to keep up with demand and prices are going to go up.”

Planned upgrades to the town’s sporting precinct, the Yarra Centre, would also attract more families, he added.

New shopping precincts in Hillside and Truganina would bring more buyers to those suburbs, REIV president Leah Calnan said.

“In Hillside, there’s a lot of development, new land releases and infrastructure,” Ms Calnan said.

“A business park in Truganina recently sold for $2 billion, which is one of the city’s biggest projects in the west.”

 

Pictured left to right: Pinnacle Park at Merrifield and Dulux at Merrifield Business Park

 

Truganina’s median house price increased 3.6 per cent to $575,000 in the 12 months to September.

Clyde North was a hot spot for buyers who wanted to break into Berwick, OBrien director Darren Hutchins said.

“The suburb abuts Berwick, which is known as the Toorak of the southeast,” Mr Hutchins said.

“It still offers all the good schools, Federation University, Chisholm TAFE and Fountain Gate shopping centre down the road.”

Casey Hospital’s $135 million expansion project was also expected to add value to the area, he said.

In Lyndhurst, level crossing removal works on the Cranbourne line has made living in the outer suburb more appealing, Ms Calnan said.

Meanwhile, Mickleham’s booming population is expected to put pressure on prices.

Hume City council has predicted Mickleham’s population to jump eight times to 27,401 people in the decade to 2026.

Melbourne property prices have been tipped by data firms to soar by as much at 17 per cent in 2020, with population growth, interest rate cuts and looser lending policies adding to demand.

SUBURBS TO WATCH IN 2020:

1. Yarra Junction, median house price $590,000

2. Hillside ($670,000)

3. Truganina ($575,000)

4. Clyde North ($568,250)

5. Lyndhurst ($630,000)

6. Mickleham ($522,500)

Link to full article here.