Melbourne apartment prices increase 3 percent year on year: Secret Agent
On average, Melbourne apartments increased in price by $260 per square metre, or three percent over the past year, according to Secret Agent’s latest bulletin.
The buyer's agency said that one bedroom apartments have remained about the same in nominal terms (which means they have fallen in value in real terms) and are now the cheapest apartments at $8,650 per square metre.
All other apartments increased in price, with four bedroom apartments now averaging $11,450 per square metre.
"Not many of these properties get sold each quarter, so prices tend to fluctuate a bit," the report said.
Three bedroom apartments increased by about $1,000 to $9,400 per square metre in the first three months of 2017.
Two bedroom apartments are also up slightly ($8,900 per square metre), while studios were more expensive than one and two bedroom apartments over the past three months ($9,200 per square metre).
East Melbourne was the most expensive area for apartments so far in 2017 ($11,850 per square metre), selling for more on average than Fitzroy ($11,600 per square metre) and Middle Park ($11,450 per square metre), which was at the top of the table over the first three months of 2016,” the bulletin advised.
Inner West suburbs, including Travancore, Kensington and Flemington continue to be the most affordable regions, with average apartments in these suburbs costing buyers between $6,000 and $7,800 per square metre.
Average prices per square metre of indoor space increased the most in the inner North, with the suburbs Brunswick, Fitzroy, Carlton North and North Melbourne all increasing by over 10 percent since Q1 2016.
The only suburbs analysed which saw average prices decrease were Fitzroy North (11 percent), Carlton (5.5 percent) and Brunswick East (3 percent).
“As the year continues and many more apartment projects are completed in inner Melbourne, we expect apartment prices to continue flatlining or even decreasing," the report said.
"However, larger apartments are still a rarity, as shown by our recent reports on supply and apartment standards.
"This makes it likely that three and four bedroom apartments will remain the most expensive both in terms of average prices and on a square metre basis."