Gisborne's property market: What are house prices like there ahead of The Block 2022 auctions?

With the stream of tree-changers fleeing Melbourne subsiding to a trickle, the auctions of The Block homes this weekend are shaping up to be a major test of the Gisborne property market.

Local agents say activity in the Victorian town has pulled back but has by no means fallen off a cliff, with prices still holding steady.

“The local housing market has slowed down since Easter,” says Helen Sanky, director of Connect Real Estate.

“If we go back to Easter, the election was on, interest rates were rising, petrol and the cost of living were going up. It really stalled our market. But we’ve been really lucky; we’ve still grown throughout that period of time.” 

In Gisborne, the largest town in the Macedon Ranges, the median house price is $1.15 million. According to the latest Domain House Price Report for the September quarter, released last week, Gisborne prices are up 29 per cent compared to last September.

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The town has outperformed the broader shire, with the median house price in the Macedon Ranges just 5 per cent higher compared to September last year. It now sits at $950,000.

Sanky said newer or renovated homes, and those on larger blocks, were still selling well in the current market. “We are struggling with some of the older stock,” she said.

Gisborne,  50 kilometres west of Melbourne, is particularly popular with city commuters as it’s on the train line to Bendigo and situated on the Calder Freeway.

“The proximity of Gisborne [to Melbourne] is always going to hold it … in very good stead,” Sanky said. “Gisborne is one of those areas that has bucked the trend of going downward in price.”

But it has not been immune to economic pressures. The start of the spring selling season in the Macedon Ranges has been subdued, especially compared to the previous three years.

“Predominantly it gets busier at this time of year but we haven’t had that influx [of buyers],” said Peter Mussared, director of TCC Real Estate.

The migration of tree changers from the Melbourne metropolitan area had tapered off, he said.

“Twelve months ago, you could put a property on the market at $1.1 million to $1.2 million and you could sell at the higher end of the range, whereas properties are now selling at the lower end of the range with less competition.”

The average house in Macedon Ranges is on the market for 70 days, slightly higher than the Victorian average of 61 days, according to Domain Group data from the September quarter.

With less competition from Melbournites, local buyers were coming back to the market, Mussared said, adding that levels of enquiry were stronger at the higher end of the property market.

The shire’s prestige market is mostly concentrated in Mount Macedon, considered “the Toorak of the north”, according to Sean Parker, the general manager of Sotheby’s International Realty’s Macedon Ranges office.

In the upper echelon of the property market, Parker recently listed the Colonial-style residence Cameron Lodge in Mount Macedon. “I’ve got it listed for between $10 million and $11 million and I’ve shown three locals through it. I’ve got very strong interest from two groups – one from Melbourne and one from Macedon.”

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“There are premium houses that sell pretty quickly but they don’t come up that often. You wouldn’t sell five in a week – that’s for sure.”

Enquiry levels had eased off in recent months, he said. “I’m not saying there are not buyers in the market but it’s 50, 60, 70 per cent harder as an agent.”

In Gisborne, a premium home typically sells for between $2 million and $3 million, and would rarely go to auction.

Suffice to say there is little precedent for The Block 2022 auctions, when five homes with a $4 million to $4.4 million price guide will go under the hammer on the same day.