Melbourne has the unenviable record of the city with the longest lockdowns in the world.
Australia’s second-largest city has seen over 260 days under restrictions in the pandemic, but despite that Melbourne’s property market has been remarkably resilient.
According to the latest Domain House Price Report, more than 120 Melbourne suburbs posted double-digit price rises.
Melbourne’s outer suburbs have come into their own in the pandemic, with house prices rising by more than 20 per cent in some pockets as buyers leave the inner city for more space.
It’s a shift from the pre-COVID era.
In 2019, the biggest movers were sought-after inner suburbs such as St Kilda East, Elwood, Armadale and Canterbury.
Top 10 Melbourne suburbs by house price rises
| SUBURB | MEDIAN | ANNUAL CHANGE |
| Diamond Creek | $950,000 | 27.5% |
| Eaglemont | $2,270,000 | 22.7% |
| Warrandyte | $1,347,500 | 22.5% |
| Flemington | $1,215,000 | 22.4% |
| Frankston North | $550,000 | 22.2% |
| Pascoe Vale South | $1,166,000 | 22.1% |
| Brunswick East | $1,210,000 | 21.7% |
| Frankston South | $996,500 | 21.2% |
| Viewbank | $1,185,000 | 20.9% |
| Oakleigh | $1,346,000 | 20.4% |
Long periods of working and studying remotely scrapped the daily commute and freed many families from the need to live near their office, while prompting a desire for a home office and a backyard.
But leading demographer Simon Kuestenmacher, co-founder of The Demographics Group, told Domain that the timing of the pandemic also played a role.
“This happened to happen in a time when the Millennial generation finally starts to have kids”
“So that means you leave Brunswick, you leave Fitzroy behind and you move to wherever you can afford a three-bedroom house.” Moving forward Kuestenmacher thinks that “knowledge workers” will probably go to CBD offices for collaborative tasks and to meet colleagues, then spend a few days a week at home and enjoy the extra family time, especially as employees have more leverage in a time when employers are struggling to find enough skilled workers.
