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Melbourne property: what buyers can get for $1 million

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The seven-figure benchmark has long been the standard barometer for Melbourne real estate. After all, $1 million dollars was always seen — and still is seen by most — as a lot of money.

But as property prices keep inflating, the $1 million price tag continues to pop up on properties and in suburbs that would leave many Melburnians aghast. 

The city’s median now sits just below $800,000 and property pundits say $2 million is the new $1 million standard in our most sought after leafy suburbs.

One million dollars travels very differently across the city.One million dollars travels very differently across the city. Photo: Naison

So house hunters will need to become more familiar with how far that sum of money actually stretches in the city.

If you walked out of your house on Saturday morning with $1 million in your pocket, here’s what you could have bought.

Bundoora

5 Trafalgar Place, Bundoora

5 Trafalgar Place, Bundoora

This four-bedder is a lovely family home, but Bundoora is not your typical million-dollar postcode. It sold for $1,088,000 on Saturday.

Most Bundoora homeowners will only have recently become used to the idea of seven-figure sales. The suburb’s median is $630,000, but has grown 38.2 per cent in five years.

Balwyn

2/74 Balwyn Road, Balwyn

In Balwyn, $1 million wouldn’t buy a house, thanks to soaring land values. The area is well known as a popular destination for foreign buyers, whose re-development of old homes has pushed house prices through the roof.

On the smaller side, buyers can still pick up a unit like this clinker brick villa, which sold for $1.07 million.

Beaumaris 

1/39 Dalgetty Road, Beaumaris

1/39 Dalgetty Road, Beaumaris

A buyer paid $970,000 for this single-level Beaumaris unit. Add stamp duty and it’s well over the million-dollar mark.

Unit prices in the bayside region have been leading the pack in Melbourne this year, largely spurred on by a local downsizer market who’ve sold up in the area and have cash to splash.

Brunswick West

25 Wales Street, Brunswick West

25 Wales Street, Brunswick West

Unlike its neighbour, Brunswick proper, Brunswick West has been slow to catch up to million-dollar territory. Without its own train line, it had been seen as a public transport blackspot and looked over by some deeper pocketed buyers.

But the tide has seemingly turned: this three-bedroom California bungalow on 555 square-metres sold for $1.19 million.

Camberwell 

1/806 Burke Road, Camberwell

1/806 Burke Road, Camberwell

This art deco villa, one of four in a small block, went to a young family for $1,017,000 under the hammer on Saturday. They beat out two other bidders.

Jellis Craig’s Julian Tonkin said single-level period-style units were hugely popular right now in Camberwell, largely because of the downsizer market. The family would have been looking at paying double or triple to get into a house rather than a unit in the area, he said.

Cheltenham 

6 Judd Parade, Cheltenham

6 Judd Parade, Cheltenham

Six-figures can still get buyers a big family house in Cheltenham. This charming park side home sold for $1.05 million.

Clayton

74 Scotsburn Avenue, Clayton

74 Scotsburn Avenue, Clayton

There’s a development boom in the south-east of Melbourne, and no suburb is experiencing a surge in the price of development opportunities quite as much as Clayton, thanks to the university and the medical centre.

Blocks in the area, like this 745 square-metre site, are frequently marketed for their land size and redevelopment potential. It sold for $1.01 million.

Croydon Hills

23 County Terrace, Croydon Hills

23 County Terrace, Croydon Hills

In Croydon Hills, 31 kilometres north-east of the CBD, just under $1 million can buy a massive four-bedroom home overlooking a park.

A buyer paid $986,000 for this one.

Footscray

9 Lynch Street, Footscray

9 Lynch Street, Footscray

A suburb once tainted by a bad reputation, million-dollar sales are par for the course in the now-gentrified postcode.

This cottage may be on the small side, but a buyer was willing to pay $1,003,000 for it Saturday. Just down the road on the same day, six would-be buyers fought it out for a converted warehouse, which went for $977,000 — about $70,000 over reserve.

Greenvale

5 Firth Way, Greenvale

5 Firth Way, Greenvale

Out in Greenvale, 20 kilometres north of the CBD, $1 million can buy a triple-storey house with a pool.

A buyer got in early on this one, snapping it up for $1.03 million before it hit the auction block.

Kingsville

92 Empress Avenue, Kingsville

92 Empress Avenue, Kingsville

In Yarraville, Seddon or Williamstown these days, $1 million does not go far. Buyers are now looking to the next period-home pocket of the west, Kingsville.

This deceased estate was hotly contested by five bidders on Saturday, coming up for sale for the first time in 50 years.

It was an emotional day for the family, but made sweeter when a young family with a child paid $960,000 — more than $100,000 above reserve.

Traci Charles of Village Real Estate said a lot of young families were moving from Seddon and Yarraville for the larger blocks in Kingsville, once they have children.

Lower Plenty

9 Sapphire Court, Lower Plenty

9 Sapphire Court, Lower Plenty

A fairly standard three-bedroom home in Lower Plenty sold for $180,000 over reserve on Saturday, when eight bidders went after the keys.

The vendors had only purchased the home in January last year, planning to renovate before a change in circumstances forced them to sell. But it was a fortuitous move; having paid $720,000 less than two years ago, they resold to a young homebuyer for $990,000 with Barry Plant Eltham’s Tom Kurtschenko.

Macleod

26 May Street, Macleod

26 May Street, Macleod​

Once thought of as a budget-friendly neighbourhood, million-dollar sales are becoming more frequent in Macleod.

This three-bedder near the train station added to list of sales on Saturday, selling for $1,002,000.

Nunawading

5 Betula Avenue, Nunawading

5 Betula Avenue, Nunawading

A crowd of more than 300 people watched five bidders fight it out for a Nunawading three-bedder on Saturday, according to Jellis Craig agent Elizabeth Dumonic.

A couple from Mitcham eventually won the keys, but buyers from Balwyn and Surrey Hills also threw their hats in the ring. 

They paid $1.09 million — $90,000 over reserve.

Pascoe Vale

27 Quick Street, Pascoe Vale
Another
once rough-rep suburb, Pascoe Vale is frequently commanding more than $1 million for decent sized blocks.
This 73 square-metre knockdown went for just under that benchmark, selling for $975,000.

Port Melbourne

130 Nott Street, Port Melbourne
A young couple who plan to renovate this long-term rental in Port Melbourne beat out four other bidders. The Victorian terrace is close to public housing, which had kept its price growth at bay.
It was on the market in the low $900,000s, but shot up to $985,000, according to Marshall White’s Sam Hobbs.

Reservoir 

19 Wilkinson Street, Reservoir
From one family to the next: an unusual home in Reservoir — held by the family by about 40 years — sold for $1,025,000 on Saturday to another young family.
Hocking Stuart’s Andrew Montalto said million-dollar sales were becoming more frequent in Reservoir. Though it was mainly large development sites selling for over $1 million, he said more and more owner-occupiers were willing to part with that amount. 

South Melbourne

218 Ferrars Street, South Melbourne

218 Ferrars Street, South Melbourne

A renovated house in South Melbourne for $1 million? Well, it only has one bedroom.

But given that it’s right around the corner from the South Melbourne market, that was probably motivation enough for the buyer to fork out $1,002,000.

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