Gippsland and Mildura residential market grows stronger: HTW

The Gippsland residential market price is strengthening, according to Herron Todd White’s latest May report.

The property valuation firm says that sale has recently been in the $700,000 to $1 million range.

“The Baw Baw, South Gippsland and Cardinia markets are strengthening.

“This includes cities and towns such as Warragul, Drouin, Nyora, Lang Lang and Koo Wee Rup.

“Regions such as Morwell and Heyfield have recently had negative press regarding the forthcoming closure of Hazelwood Power Station and Heyfield Timber Mill.

“It will be interesting to see how the market responds.

“Sale has recently had some higher end sales in the $700,000 to $1 million range with increased buyer interest in prestige properties,” the report stated.

A five bedroom house at 168 Yarragon South Road, Yarragon South (above) has been listed for $799,000.

Similarly a five bedroom house at 28 Fernery Boulevard, Warragul (below) has been listed for $879,000.

Mildura’s housing market has seen modest growth according to Herron Todd White.

“Despite the housing market being active, very modest growth has been seen in housing prices over the past 18 months.

“Houses and units are selling after relatively short selling periods of usually less than 30 days and Mildura’s local economy appears to have strengthened over this period.

“Despite this, it seems there is not quite enough competition amongst buyers to see any significant capital gains.

“The missing ingredient seems to be population growth.

“The latest statistics indicate that Mildura’s population is growing at just under 1% per annum and while this is enough to maintain momentum, it is not flowing through to any substantial price growth,” the report commented.

Herron Todd White says that lifestyle factors influence the growth of the area.

“Employment and lifestyle factors are the things which will influence population growth outlook.

“On the employment front, there is ongoing optimism in key agricultural industries and this is likely to create opportunities in farm work, transport and logistics, agronomic services and some downstream processing.

“However growth in tourism, retail or mining would be needed to see the growth in jobs required to bring significant numbers of families to the region.

“What is clear is that Mildura has enough size and economic diversity to weather any economic downturns reasonably well,” the report advised.

Older residents are beginning to move to Mildura and that is expected to rise Herron Todd White says.

“The migration of older people from surrounding towns and regions choosing to retire to Mildura is expected to continue.

“For this sector, it is lifestyle and availability of medical services along with affordability of housing that will influence their choice.

“Mildura appears to stack up well in this regard,” the report advised.

A three bedroom townhouse at 3 Lakeview Court, Mildura (below) was recently sold for $230,000.

Similarly a three bedroom house at 906 Fifteenth Street, Mildura (below) was recently sold for $205,000.