Migration helps force up property prices

If you're an investor and have been sitting on the side lines waiting to buy real estate in Brunswick, then the latest Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) figures could provide the encouragement you need. The group revealed that Melbourne's median house price exceeded $700,000 for the first time during the June quarter, rising more than five per cent from the previous three months.

Although various factors are likely to have played a part in the increase, the REIV suggested that high levels of migration have played a key role.

Chief executive officer Enzo Raimondo noted that this, coupled with strong auction success and low interest rates, has brought a raft of good news for sellers in the city.

Looking at the latest population figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it's not difficult to see why prices have followed this upward trend. During the final quarter of last year, Victoria recorded the highest net interstate migration in four decades.

Its population has been rising for the past four years, but it's the past 12 months that demand for living in the state has started to take hold. A total of 9,300 people relocated to Victoria over the course of the year, with the majority (2,700) moving to the state from New South Wales. South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland emerged as the next greatest contributors.

Mr Raimondo explained that the last time such a large quarterly increase in property prices was recorded was in late December last year. Interestingly, growth has been spread out across inner-city areas, as well as those on the fringes of the city.

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