Melbourne boom suburbs: Blackburn unit owners' big win
Mr Howell said he initially thought that Melbourne home prices were 'kind of mad' when he bought, after first moving back in with his parents to save for a deposit.
Although the prospect of spending hundreds of thousands on a property caused him a lot of stress when he first purchased, it has since paid off.
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According to PropTrack, Blackburn's median unit price has jumped from $570,000 to $765,000 since 2020.
Across the time frame, the suburb was one of Melbourne's best-performing areas for increases in typical unit values, including apartments, units and townhouses.
Other suburbs rounding out the top five were Hampton East where median prices rose from $687,500 to $975,000, Doveton (where medians increased from $386,500 to $535,000), Hampton Park (from $410,000 to $560,000) and Beaumaris (from $895,000 to $1.175m).
For Greater Melbourne houses, Lower Plenty where median values surged from $950,000 to $1.586m, headed the list.
The suburb in the city's north east was followed by Gembrook (where medians soared from $650,000 to $1.0498m), Kinglake (from $606,500 to $930,600), Research (from $1.0825m to $1.6m) and Longwarry (from $407,000 to $592,800).
Mr Howell and Ms Evans said they had loved living in Blackburn but were now planning to upsize.
They have put their abode at 3/5 Clare St on the market with a $690,000-$755,000 asking range.
Ms Evans said that rising home prices were positive in one respect because it would help them to buy a larger property with more space for their dog, Kelpie-mix Romeo.
Treasured memories of their current suburb include walking around Blackburn Lake, visiting their favourite cafe and hosting Mr Howell's late parents for pancakes on Sundays.
'Blackburn is amazing, it is lovely and we will miss it,' Ms Evans said.
'We'll be coming back, partly for the cafe we like best and see some of our friends here.'
One of the reasons Mr Howell initially bought the townhouse was its proximity to Blackburn train station, eateries and shops.
He was also won over by the courtyard and private location.
'It's enough away from the roads to not worry about traffic noises and things like that, but also close enough that I could get access to the freeway and public transport quite easily,' Mr Howell said.
He and Ms Evans have extensively renovated the home, making the bathroom larger, giving the kitchen a complete makeover and installing a new staircase.
'Somewhere in between that we took up a carpet downstairs, and they had really beautiful wooden floors underneath,' Ms Evans said.
Having plenty of storage space was another priority.
'We made quite a few changes and built things in to make use of the space,' she added.
'And I think my favourite room is my study upstairs with my study, where we built in bookcases and a desk, and it can double as a guest bedroom too.'
Their townhouse, listed with Woodards Blackburn's Rachel Waters, will be auctioned at 2pm on August 16.
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