Coles has just opened at the new Armstrong Creek Town Centre shopping centre.
MORE buyers are turning their backs on the capital city amid the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing competition for Geelong property.
Leading market researcher Terry Ryder said a renewed rise in demand for Geelong homes had revealed seven future growth suburbs in a corridor from the city’s southern outskirts onto the Bellarine Peninsula.
The Hotspotting founder said the winter Price Predictor Index picked the second wave of buyer demand after the market had previously peaked in 2019.
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“COVID-19 has changed that, providing a second wave of buyer demand for affordable lifestyle locations with good links to the state capital,” Mr Ryder wrote in the report.
The growth markets are Armstrong Creek, Drysdale, Geelong, Leopold, Mt Duneed, Ocean Grove and St Leonards.
Mr Ryder tracks quarterly sales volumes with a rising trend in sales pointing to future price growth.
“Geelong has this incredibly strong local economy that’s transitioned from an old economy to a new one successfully,” Mr Ryder said.
New Armstrong Creek Town Centre shopping centre located in the fastest growing area in Victoria seven kilometres south-west of Geelong.
“The biggest employers in Geelong are now things like education and health care. (There’s also the) national headquarters of the NDIS — employment is strong there.
“(Geelong real estate) is much cheaper than real estate in Melbourne. It’s surrounded by water, so it offers a great lifestyle and great links to Melbourne. It ticks all the boxes,” he said.
Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee has long said Geelong’s commuter links to Melbourne was a driver of the property market.
“If it gets that fast rail, it will only take half an hour to commute to Melbourne, so that’s likely to continue to drive activity,” she said.
33A Hope St, Geelong West, sold at auction after three professional couples contested the property.
Gartland Property, Geelong agent Nathan Ashton said the city’s growing medical and government sectors was creating more competition in a lot of suburbs.
A shortage of titled land had also sparked a race for established homes in Armstrong Creek and Mt Duneed, he said.
“We’re seeing good competition across the board. We’re the beneficiaries in the growth of the government organisations as well as Melbourne buyers,” he said.
He said an auction in Geelong West proved the point last weekend, when three couples — all working for government or health agencies — contested a two-bedroom house in Hope St, which sold for $644,000, almost $15,000 above the price range.
Central Geelong has been identified as a future hot spot.
Realestate.com.au demand data show buyers continue to search most for homes in Belmont, Geelong West, Geelong, Highton and Newcomb — all within a 5km radius of central Geelong.
Mr Ashton said he believed Armstrong Creek and Mt Duneed were set for a short surge after the first stage of the Armstrong Creek Town Centre opened this week.
“Whenever major infrastructure opens there’s always a surge in values. I think that will be short-term growth,” he said.
Mr Ashton said strong rental returns were having an impact on investors buying on the Bellarine Peninsula.
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