Welcome to The Report Moonee Valley & Kensington 2022

Welcome to our 2022 edition of The Report – your exclusive annual insight into the key trends shaping the residential property market in Moonee Valley, Kensington, the surrounding suburbs and the wider metropolitan region.

As pandemic conditions continue to ease around the globe, the welcome return to normality has ushered in a strong but more balanced housing market for 2022.

As the frenzy settles, price growth has eased to a steadier rhythm, with buyers increasingly drawn to quality accommodation with a focus on liveability. Priorities have changed, and properties with “pandemic appeal” such as more space, great work-from-home facilities and a location close to retail, education and recreation facilities continue to perform strongly.

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Post-lockdown, a perfect storm of low interest rates, pent-up demand and limited stock caused prices to surge across Melbourne at a rate not seen in decades. With the pain points of their current accommodation front of mind, buyers flocked to properties offering more space, and our upsize market performed particularly well.

Buyers are placing increased value on their time and want to be in a position to move straight into a property without further work required. Inflation in the construction industry has also pushed renovators and those looking to build homes to focus on well- renovated premium properties. We see this trend continuing as labour prices and material costs increase further, and this will help cushion the local property market.

We expect interest rate increases to impact lending, which will have a flow-on effect of stimulating demand for more affordable townhouses and apartments. The entry-level home market has been further bolstered by the 1 July lifting of the threshold for the housing guarantee scheme to $800,000 in metropolitan Melbourne.

Rising demand and extremely low vacancy rates continue to benefit the rental market, with the reopening of our international borders providing further stimulus. With rents rising again there is much positive sentiment in the market and we expect this will encourage investment activity across our region.

This year’s edition of The Report investigates the five biggest influences shaping the current property market and details the key infrastructure improvements that will add to liveability in Moonee Valley, Kensington and surrounds. Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher unpacks the movement of Victorians post-pandemic and what this means for our cities moving forward, and Jellis Craig CEO Nick Dowling makes his predictions about what is next for the property market.

We hope you enjoy our 2022 edition of The Report and we look forward to guiding you through the sale or purchase of your next home.