The value of properties an hour's drive from Melbourne has soared by up to 60 per cent in less than a year, Ray White Rural data shows.
In the second quarter of 2021, the median price for residential property across the eight council shires surrounding metropolitan Melbourne surged by 12.6pc to $690,219.
Ray White Rural Victoria director Jason Hellyer said demand for country and coastal lifestyle property on the outskirts and across regional Victoria was at unprecedented levels.
The number of Australians who moved to regional areas from capital cities doubled between 2020 and 2019, with Melbourne witnessing the largest exodus.
Demand for 5-40 hectare country lifestyle properties is also exceptionally strong, Mr Hellyer said.
It was mostly driven by families leaving Melbourne's restrictive lockdown environment in pursuit of freedom and open space.
"We simply have more buyers than sellers right now," Mr Hellyer said, "and that limited availability of property, coupled with high buyer demand, is driving property pricing to levels we've not witnessed before".
The steepest climbs of all in property prices had been seen in Macedon Ranges Shire Council, where the average price rose by 60pc from $490,000 in the final quarter of 2019 to $785,000 in the second quarter of this year.
Even local agents were sometimes caught by surprise, like when an online auction for a 1950s residence at Kyneton attracted 13 active bidders.
"The price guide for the property was $800,000 to $850,000, it opened with a cheeky bid of $660,000 and after 67 bids sold under the hammer for $1,141,000," Mr Hellyer said.
"An amazing result driven by overwhelming demand."
The second-largest township within the Macedon Ranges Shire, Kyneton is a growing regional hub located 87 kilometres north-west of Melbourne's central business district.
Forty 5-40ha properties changed hands in the Macedon Ranges Shire in the second quarter of 2021 at an average sale price of $1.245 million.
"Why settle for a house on 1000 square metres in regional Victoria when you can buy something on acreage for similar money to Melbourne's current median price?" Mr Hellyer said.
Marian Macdonald
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
