The Geelong suburbs where homes sell every single day
Armstrong Creek, Lara and Highton, along with Torquay each scored more than 365 residential sales in the 12 months to July, new PropTrack figures reveal.
Sellers in Geelong's biggest-selling suburbs are also enjoying the injection of competition from investors as buyers seek affordable entries, good yields and long-term growth prospects.
Armstrong Creek is Geelong's biggest market, with 455 home sales in FY25 almost 100 greater than the same time 12 months ago.
The median house price has sat around $650,000 at Armstrong Creek over the year, while the rental yield improved to 4.24 per cent.
House and unit sales combined to crack more than 400 sales in Lara, while 367 homes transacted each in Highton and Torquay.
McGrath, Armstrong Creek agent Sam Parsons said a good portion of sales in the suburb are to investors in the $650,000 to $700,000 range.
He estimated investors now represent up to 40 per cent of buyers in the growth corridor.
'The big portion in that price range is first-home buyers, or people with that budget to get in the market, because there is now that true fear of missing out in that price range,' Mr Parsons said.
'There's genuine competition against them now, which wasn't there nine months ago.'
He suggests some investors may have 'jumped the gun' when they sold up as the state government hiked land taxes and other compliance costs.
'They do add up, but that's part and parcel of owning an investment property,' Mr Parsons said.
'The ones that held on, or that (will) hold on to them long term, are always going to be better off. Land tax and other things are not great for an investor when the bill comes, but when the investor looks at the bigger picture, their investments are doing well for them.'
Mr Parsons said buyers were seeking homes aged between one to five years, which required less maintenance and the ability to claim depreciation against their taxable income.
He said the best time to claim depreciation on an investment property was in the first 10 years.
The PropTrack data shows a 5.6 per cent drop in Highton's median house price over the past 12 months to $861,000.
But Hayeswinckle, Highton agent Michelle Winckle said while more locals were downsizing, contributing to the decline, there was a real lack of stock in the lower price brackets now driving competition.
'To be honest, people are misreading the market – they don't realise how good the Highton market is,' Ms Winckle said.
'A lot of people believe Highton has dropped, but there's actually not enough stock in Highton – we've got more buyers than we actually have sellers.'
That was evident last weekend when a three-bedroom house in Strickland Ave attracted 10 bidders.
The house was listed with a $640,000 reserve price, but sold to an investor for $751,000.
Ms Winckle said plenty of people were looking to downsize in Highton, while family buyers were also a sizeable portion of the market.
Investors and families tended to compete for similar properties in Highton, because the fundamentals driving interest in the suburb were good schools, access to shopping and the Geelong Ring Road.
'It's a very popular family area because it's close to all the schools. There's so many schools around us, so Highton is good for that.'
Elite Buyers Agents' Geelong buyers agent Vicky Whittaker said people waiting for the market to rise were contributing to the shortage of sub-$900,000 homes in Highton.
'I think there is a lot of vendors thinking the price is going to go up, they're going to get more growth on the property, so they're sitting on their hands.'
Ray White Lara agent Matthew Wade-Taylor said another cut to interest rates after better inflation figures this week would increase competition in the market.
Lara's $682,000 median house price had slipped 2.7 per cent over 12 months, but showed more signs of improvement over the short term as the average time to sell a house has also been slashed.
'We were getting two, three people at an open homes, sometimes zero (12 months ago). Now properties at a price below $700,000 we're getting to the first open sometimes 10 to 15 people.'
Mr Wade-Taylor said families were the biggest demographic for mid-range properties, with investors typically keen below $650,000.
First-home buyers are typically coming out on top if they're coming up against investors, he said.
'Advocates are coming with a lot of conditions whereas first-home buyers know there's a bit of competition so it's putting them in a position where they have to tighten up their conditions.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
2 hours ago
- The Australian
Collapse in private-sector job creation as public sector surges
Private-sector job creation has collapsed as employment funded by federal and state governments soars to five times the normal rate, sparking warnings of unsustainable distortions in the labour market that are at the heart of the nation's productivity slump. Analysis of labour-market data shows that 82 per cent of all jobs created over the past two years were government-funded positions, with the private sector adding only 53,000 jobs in 2024. This marks a dramatic reversal of normal labour market trends, in which the private sector typically contributes about two-thirds of total job creation. While Jim Chalmers has ruled out discussion of industrial relations at this month's economic and productivity summit, employer groups are demanding that dysfunction in the labour market needs urgent attention. Australian Industry Group analysis shows that the historically low unemployment rates maintained since the pandemic are masking a fundamental shift in the composition of job creation, which lies at the heart of the nation's productivity slump. It warns that labour-market resilience, as shown in official unemployment data, was being supported almost entirely through government spending, leading to an excess of job vacancies in the private sector. This was unsustainable, according to the Ai Group, which also pointed to a dramatic fall in mobility rates – the frequency of workers changing jobs or roles – to a record low in 2025 that was directly linked to productivity. The analysis showed that the number of new jobs needed for the economy to maintain an unemployment rate of about 4 per cent was approximately 400,000 a year. 'Since the pandemic, this has been achieved, however, the composition of job creation has changed dramatically,' the Ai Group analysis said. 'Typically, the private-market sector accounts for about two-thirds of job creation in Australia. However, as the economy has slowed since 2023, private-sector job creation rates have collapsed. 'In 2024, the sector only added 53,000 new jobs – about a fifth of its normal level of job creation. In its place, two government-supported sectors took up the slack. 'Employment in these government-supported sectors has boomed since the pandemic, adding an additional 670,000 jobs over the last two years. This is over five times higher than the normal growth rate, and ultimately accounted for 82 per cent of all job creation in Australia. 'It was driven by significant uplift in public-sector staffing levels, as well as the rapid expansion of the private-sector (but government-funded) care-economy workforce. One of the Albanese government's key election boasts was its maintenance of low unemployment and job creation. But the bulk of those jobs have been in the public sector (where workers are directly employed by government), and the non-market sector (industries such as healthcare and education) which are driven by government funding decisions. 'Job creation has become unsustainably dependent upon government spending,' the Ai Group research said. 'Growing regulatory burden has raised the costs of private sector employment generation. Job mobility rates have rapidly declined, while excess vacancies and skills shortages have disrupted business operations and efficiency.' The public sector was the least productive part of the economy and, with public spending showing signs of easing, unemployment rates have begun to rise. Last month, the jobless rate surprised experts by jumping from 4.1 to 4.3 per cent. This prompted economists to call for the central bank to lean in further on interest-rate cuts, following its surprise decision last month to keep them on hold, to protect the economy. Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said the historically low headline unemployment rate had created a 'blind spot to labour-market trends that are decreasing our productivity, our wellspring to national wealth'. 'While the labour market has remained resilient, with the jobless rate around 4 per cent for the past three years, in many other respects it is failing to meet the broader needs of our economy or productivity,' Mr Willox said. 'There are four key areas that are a material drag on productivity: job creation has become almost entirely dependent on government spending; a growing regulatory burden has increased private sector costs; there is a persistent overhang of excess job vacancies; and mobility is declining. 'These all make job creation more expensive and difficult, reduce the efficiency of matching jobs to employers, while disrupting productivity and sapping business growth.'' Mr Willox said there was an urgent need for the private sector to resume its role as the primary job creator 'or our labour market resilience will be at risk'. 'Regulation has pushed up employment costs since the pandemic, with growth in superannuation, workers compensation and payroll tax adding $14bn to the annual wage costs,' Mr Willox said. 'The regulatory costs for employment, on top of wages, have grown to 15.6 per cent from 14 per cent in the past three years. 'We have a plague of excess job vacancies, which disrupts business operations, make it harder to allocate resources properly and less likely to pursue new opportunities for growth.' Mr Willox said the intervention by governments to prop up job creation through their budgets had starved the private sector with about 330,000 jobs remaining unfilled at the beginning of 2025. This was 100,000 more than the historical average. 'This persistence of excess vacancies has exacerbated a further challenge for employers: a crippling skills shortage,' Mr Willox said. 'The sectors with the most chronic shortages – healthcare and social – also delivered the worst productivity outcomes, so there is a clear link between the two.' Mr Willox said the issue needed to be a central piece of the productivity debate at the Treasurer's roundtable this month. Nation A massive pro-Palestine protest brought Melbourne to a standstill as activists clashed with riot police, harassed officers, blocked traffic, and targeted fashion brand Zara – defying Premier Jacinta Allan's warning of swift action. Nation The PM's energy infrastructure tsar and a pro-renewables independent are worried concerns about one of Australia's largest proposed solar farms are being ignored.
ABC News
8 hours ago
- ABC News
Algal bloom recreational fishing response includes plans for artificial reef and reservoirs
A new artificial reef will be created off the South Australian coast to help the state's recreational fishing sector battle the ongoing impacts of the algal bloom "disaster", the state government says. The government said it was also looking to open more of the state's reservoirs for freshwater fishing "where consistent with public health advice", and boost fish stocks in reservoirs and lakes to take pressure off the marine environment. The bloom is devastating some of the state's commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as hitting parts of the economy that rely on them, such as regional tourism. The government today unveiled measures to support recreational fishers, with short-term funding of $200,000 for Recfish SA to bolster community participation initiatives, such as fishing lessons and competitions. Recfish SA's executive officer Asher Dezsery said fishing and tackle shops were desperately in need of stimulus. "They've had sales collapse by up to 70 per cent so they really need not handouts but feet through the door, they need boots on the ground, they need customers," Mr Dezsery said. The funding forms part of the state and federal governments' $28 million support package, with $300,000 to be spent on installing an artificial reef somewhere in Gulf St Vincent. "The idea of re-establishing reefs as soon as we see this bloom pass is a really important one," SA Environment Minister Susan Close said. "The faster we can help nature restore, the faster we can accelerate that recovery, the faster we'll all be able to move past the experience of this bloom and also make ourselves more resilient in the event that it returns." SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said recreational fishers were feeling the economic effects of the bloom — which he described as a "natural disaster" — even in regions that had avoided environmental impact. "The algal bloom has impacted around about 27 per cent of our coastline, which means 73 per cent of our coastline remains completely unaffected," Mr Malinauskas said. "There are whole regional communities that are underpinned by recreational fishers who book an Airbnb and go to the pub and go to the cafe and restaurant, buy equipment from the local fishing tackle shop. South Australia has several artificial reefs, and it is understood a precise location for the new one has not yet been decided. Recfish SA has strongly backed the proposal, and the government believes it will boost fish stocks and allow "real-time monitoring" of the environment by researchers and citizen scientists. "We know that artificial reefs, from interstate projects, 100 per cent assist fish stocks in recovering. They also create biodiversity," Mr Dezsery said. According to the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, recreational fishing is already permitted in several of the state's reservoirs. Recfish SA said the government was looking to expand that further, including in regional areas. "Wherever there's water, wherever there's reservoirs, council stormwater catchments — any body of water, we're trying to create freshwater fishing opportunities so people can keep fishing without putting pressure on that marine environment." Speaking before the announcement, SA Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said that what had been offered to recreational fishers so far had been "completely inadequate", and he issued his own call for reservoir fishing. "There are a number of things that the government could be doing to help the recreational fishing space — one of them, for example, is the government could be doing things like stocking fish and allowing some of our reservoirs, where it's safe to be done, to be fished in," Mr Tarzia said. "That would add significant value in the recreational space." Mr Tarzia has also suggested tourism vouchers, like those that were made available in the wake of the 2023 River Murray floods, could be handed out to encourage regional travel. "Any sort of stimulus that could be allowed for that sort of area would certainly be welcome."
The Australian
9 hours ago
- The Australian
AFCA complaints handling hurry leaves thousands exposed
Thousands of decisions by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority could be called into question because it has resorted to checking its own homework to process a backlog of claims. AFCA insiders are concerned that the organisation is drifting from its promise to apply a high standard of scrutiny to complaints. Instead, it has resorted to allegedly misrepresenting that a fresh set of eyes had ruled on matters when they had not, sources told The Australian. Where an AFCA ombudsman would rule on complaints at the final stage, these were routinely overseen by more junior case managers. The involvement of the ombudsman was allegedly limited to signing off on their recommendations. This is despite AFCA's assurance that decisions would be subject to review where either party to a complaint disagreed with the preliminary ruling. AFCA, assembled in the wake of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation, and Financial Services Industry, is designed to keep disputes from clogging up the court system and free-up regulators to pursue more egregious misconduct. In its first six months, AFCA received 34,263 complaints. Between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, the latest period for which data is available, it was handed 98,622 matters. Of these, 41,583 were related to bank behaviour. AFCA insiders told The Australian it has resorted to 'quick and dirty' decision making in a bid to shift its backlog of claims, warning it put the outcomes of thousands of matters at risk. It's process boils down to a two-tiered arrangement. Matters are initially allocated to a case manager, who attempts to resolve the complaint by mutual agreement. If this fails, the complaint progresses to a second stage where a case manager assesses the merits of the case. The matter proceeds to an ombudsman if a party refuses to accept the case manager's finding. But poor resourcing meant ombudsman matters were often being sent back to the initial staffers, leaving the ombudsman to sign-off on their thinking. This may be as little as a 'quick glance'. 'There were often times where instructions were given to not send out decisions by ombudsman because it looked like it was too quick,' a former AFCA staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, recalled. AFCA was pinged for weak processes in the 2022 NSW Supreme Court Notesco case, which saw a third party broker sue the body alleging it had acted without impartiality when awarding a decision to Jean Pasquier, a retired 83-year old living in France who lost €306,900 ($545,724) after making thousands of trades on Nextrade. AFCA staffer May Chng had sought the view of her manager, who in turn consulted ombudsman Nicolas Crowhurst, before issuing a decision in Mr Pasquier's favour. When Notesco contested the decision, it was sent to Mr Crowhurst to rule on, again in Mr Pasquier's favour. Following this, AFCA engaged former Federal Court judge Julie Dodds-Streeton and barrister Ahmed Terzic to review 30 decisions. AFCA deputy chief ombudsman Dr June Smith said the dispute's body had reviewed the Notesco decision. 'Steps were then taken to ensure that a final decision maker is not involved in the early investigation stage of a complaint they will determine,' she said. Dr Smith said AFCA had commissioned regular independent audits and its next review is slated for 2026 or 2027. 'These reviews have all found that AFCA is engaging in procedural and substantive fairness, and is meeting its obligations of independence and impartiality,' she said. 'These consistent results should give consumers and industry full confidence that AFCA interprets and applies its fairness jurisdiction appropriately and in accordance with its remit.' Resolving cases at AFCA has proven costly as it hires more staff in a bid to catch up to a spiralling case load. Parties before AFCA are slugged for each case, starting at $105.81 for a matter to be registered and up to $10,234 for a final decision. As revealed in The Australian, AFCA has been warning many complainants it would take up to six months to assign them case managers. AFCA chief executive and lead ombudsman David Locke told The Australian in February he was 'mortified' over the delays. AFCA has also been hampered by financial institutions poaching from its ranks, with ANZ recruiting its former banking lead Evelyn Hall as 'customer fairness advisor' in March 2022. David Ross is a Sydney-based journalist at The Australian. He previously worked at the European Parliament and as a freelance journalist, writing for many publications including Myanmar Business Today where he was an Australian correspondent. He has a Masters in Journalism from The University of Melbourne. Markets With the ASX trading near record highs despite subdued earnings forecasts, this reporting season will show whether investors are paying too much for a recovery that may not materialise. DataRoom Executives from Canada's largest mining company have been spotted at Bellevue Gold's flagship Western Australian project, fuelling takeover bid speculation.
