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Buxton agents, like Tony Moorfoot, are seeing more fastidious buyers in the Geelong market place.

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Geelong home prices have dipped again as regional Victoria continues to bear the brunt of the state’s subdued property market.

The latest PropTrack Home Price Index showed a quarterly decline in home values of 0.61 per cent, with a slight downward trend continuing in April.

That leaves home prices down 5.62 per cent year on year, with Geelong’s median home price hitting $772,000.

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said a normalising of listing numbers had contributed to a small pullback in regional areas like Geelong.

By comparison, low stock numbers had insulated capital cities, which are leading the real estate recovery.

“These regional markets have held up extremely well and they are still significantly up on pre-pandemic levels but now I think we’re seeing that supply-demand imbalance rectified and prices coming off a bit,” Ms Creagh said.

“Stock levels do remain constrained in the regions but we are starting to see that the level of properties for sale is lifting.”

PropTrack kıdemli ekonomisti Eleanor Creagh. Fotoğraf: Sağlandı

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She said the recent collapse of building companies such as Porter Davis was likely to strengthen confidence in the established home market going forward.

“High construction costs and those industry challenges work to underpin values as population growth is rebounding strongly and we will see a home shortage exacerbated by those challenges,” she said.

Buxton agent David Gray said jitters around construction costs and delays had taken the shine off building a new home for some buyers.

“There are a couple of people that are selling up some land and trying to buy the finished product,” Mr Gray

“There’s probably a bit of a dilution of the land market there, we have some blocks that have sat there longer than they normally would.”

Geelong buyers have their eyes on a finished prize.

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Buxton agent David Gray is seeing strong demand for renovated home over those in need of work.

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Conversely, he said demand for well priced, renovated homes remained strong.

“I put that down to buyers adjusting their borrowing capacities and trying to get homes that need less work, whereas a couple of years ago they could have probably borrowed more and had extra funds available to fix up an old renovated house,” he said.

“The buyer sentiment is still there but they are a little more fastidious about what they buy, there is much more sensitivity around price.

The renovated Art Deco house at 82 Mount Pleasant Rd, Belmont recently sold for $1.12m.

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“The initial pause was certainly there late last year but I think the dust has settled on interest rates and people have reassessed and now understand their position and are getting on with it.”

Nationally, home prices increased 0.14 per cent in April.

Ms Creagh said the Reserve Bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady last month likely contributed to the modest uplift.

She said there was leeway for the RBA to do the same when it meets on Tuesday, despite inflation still sitting above target.