Budget suburbs including Croydon South, Lalor and Heidelberg Heights have been tipped for a bumper year in 2023 by one of Australia’s top real estate gurus.
And they’re joined by the hometown of the AFL’s worst-performing football team in 2022, North Melbourne.
In the annual McGrath Report for 2023 one of the nation’s most successful real estate agents and the firm’s chief executive John McGrath has tipped the proposed revitalisation of the Yarra River’s bank and the ongoing Metro Tunnel project to begin driving property market wins within the next 12 months.
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Croydon South, home to a typical $892,500 house price, topped Mr McGrath’s list of future growth stars, with the founder of McGrath Real Estate giving it the nod thanks to a state and local government pilot program to transform the suburb into a 20-minute neighbourhood.
1A Reilly Court, Croydon South is on the market now.
North Melbourne, where a median house costs $1,267,500, was second on his list of Victorian areas to watch in 2022.
He’s singled it out for the future benefits of Arden station being built as part of the new Metro Tunnel project, which will help take it from a gentrifying neighbourhood to a property powerhouse in the years ahead.
Affordable Lalor ($723,000) and the rapidly gentrifying Heidelberg Heights ($998,000) were also picked out by Mr McGrath, who described both as family amenity-filled suburbs that had “flown under the radar for years”.
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John McGrath, CEO, McGrath Estate Agents.
Point Lonsdale, a cheaper neighbour to Queenscliff near Geelong, was the only regional area to make the predictions list.
Mr McGrath said it was likely to benefit from those buyers lured by a growing cafe and restaurant scene that compliments its seaside-village vibe.
All of the suburbs could benefit from a resurgent demand in Victorian property, with the 22-23 McGrath Report also noting soaring immigration numbers since Australia opened its borders after the pandemic — migrants who will be competing for homes, most likely initially as tenants but eventually as buyers.
For the wider housing market, Mr McGrath said there would be ongoing impacts from Covid-19 as the pandemic continued to turn “a lot of long-term trends in Australian property on their head”.
He said regional areas were likely to remain in demand in 2023, but noted it could be tree-changes rather than sea-changes that would attract most city-slicker buyers’ attention.
While the pandemic is now in the rear-view mirror, Mr McGrath noted workers would likely seek to hang onto the home office as it had given them a chance at a dream lifestyle they couldn’t afford closer to the big smoke.
Homes in Heidelberg Heights, like this at 129 Waiora Road have been highlighted in the McGrath report.
For the same reason, he said he expected to see more new homes being built next year featuring designs that complemented families spending more time at home — a trend likely to be compounded by the rising cost of living.
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