Buyer interest has spiked in several Melbourne suburbs by as much as 156 per cent for each individual listing, across the past 12 months. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Lifestyle suburbs in Melbourne’s leafy outer east and tiny hidden gems closer to the CBD are among the areas tipped to deliver homes owners five-figure bonuses this spring. Realestate.com.au data has revealed the hotspots which have seen the largest increases for house hunter inquiries per listing across the past 12 months, including Caulfield East, Belgrave Heights, Seville, Hoddles Creek and Upper Ferntree Gully.
All four latter areas are located, or partially located, in the Yarra Ranges Shire, home to both the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges.
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Buyer inquiries in Caulfield East and Belgrave Heights surged by more than 100 per cent a house between August 2025 and August 2026.
Other areas such as Eumemmerring, Gembrook and Blind Bight, all in Melbourne’s outer east or south east, experienced rises of 55 per cent or more.
Experts have noted houses rarely come up for sale in some of these tightly-held locales, meaning buyer demand intensifies for when they do, especially among families dreaming of a tree change.
The report covered areas with at least 10 listings across the 12 months and measured buyer interest though activities such as inspection requests, listing document downloads and queries on agent’s contact details.
This Belgrave Heights house, set on a 4290sq m block, sold for $1,092,000 through Chandler & Co Real Estate. The suburb has a $1,005,500 median house price.
Realestate.com.au senior economic analyst Megan Lieu says the suburbs most in demand among buyers tend to have more resilient prices. Picture: Supplied.
Realestate.com.au senior economic analyst Megan Lieu said affordable suburbs were in high demand at the moment, with six of the top 10 Melbourne suburbs having median house prices below the city’s $964,000 typical house value.
The most affordable were Pentland Hills, a small rurality in the Shire of Moorabool with a $660,000 median and Eumemmerring at $715,000, while Caulfield East was most expensive at $1,595,000.
“Currently there’s lower demand than what we typically see in spring and there’s been a decline in house prices in Melbourne,” Ms Lieu said.
“So even though that’s the general trend, it doesn’t take away from the fact that there are still suburbs that buyers are interested in and they’re still in high demand.”
She’s also observed a wider movement of buyers seeking areas offering lifestyle appeal and bigger blocks.
A total of 717 Melbourne homes are slated to go under the hammer this week, realstate.com.au figures show. Picture: Sarah Matray.
In April, this four-bedroom Seville house changed hands for $900,000. The suburb has a $897,820 typical house value.
Chandler & Co Real Estate’s Sharyn Chandler said Belgrave Heights and neighbouring Belgrave South were both tightly-held areas, popular with families for their country-like feel, schools and proximity to train stations.
“Which means when something does become available, everyone is trying to jump on it,” she said.
Ms Chandler said scarcity could drive prices up by tens of thousands of dollars when a house was well-presented and realistically-priced, in the first place.
“I think the hard bit is making sure everyone understands that this is not a seller’s market anymore, and that you’ve got to do all the right things to get your property sold,” she said.
“If you set it up right from the beginning, it will happen – it will happen well.”
Advantage Property Consulting director Frank Valentic says this spring is shaping up as a buyer’s market in Melbourne as clearance rates decline, although with lower levels of stock for sale than in recent years.
Featuring three bedrooms, this Gembrook house fetched $930,000 earlier in 2026. The suburb has a $1,013,000 median house value.
Advantage Property Consulting director Frank Valentic said purchasers seeking serenity and acreages were attracted to areas such as Hoddles Creek, Gembrook, Seville and Blind Bight, all 50km or more from Melbourne’s CBD.
“We are seeing a return to the days of the pandemic as proposed WFH (work from home) laws may make people contemplate and dream of a tree change,” the buyers’ advocate said.
However, Mr Valentic cautioned that expensive-to-maintain or quite large properties could be harder to re-sell in the future.
“Many buyers would buy in these areas to be private and quiet so avoid main roads and being too close to other properties,” he said.
Mr Valentic noted it was important to realise that although increased buyer inquiry could boost competition and prices, it did not always translate to a higher-than-expected sales result.
Melbourne’s median house price currently stands at $964,000.
This three-bedroom house in Hoddles Creek sold for $1,105,000 in July. Buyer inquiries for each listing in the suburb rose by 70 per cent between August 2025 and August 2026.
Woodards’ Ben Dax described Caulfield East a “hidden gem” because it’s quite small, at 1.3sq km, tightly held, and also shares the 3145 postcode with Malvern East.
“It’s an unusual little pocket there’s some of the nicest homes there but just no one really knows about it,” he said.
But for those in the know, it offers beautiful period homes and some neighbourhoods which fall into the Carnegie Primary School zone, Mr Dax added.
This four-bedroom Caulfield East house fetched $1.55m. The suburb has a $1,595,000 typical house price.
MELBOURNE: SPRING HOTSPOT SUBURBS
Suburb |
Increase in buyer inquiries per listing |
Median house price |
| Caulfield East | 156% | $1,595,000 |
| Belgrave Heights | 102% | $1,005,500 |
| Pentland Hills | 78% | $660,000 |
| Eumemmerring | 76% | $715,000 |
| Hoddles Creek | 70% | $1.19m |
| Seville | 62% | $897,820 |
| Gembrook | 61% | $1,013,000 |
| Upper Ferntree Gully | 58% | $905,000 |
| Blind Bight | 55% | $731,000 |
| Ardeer | 48% | $711,000 |
Source: Realestate.com.au. Increase in buyer inquiries is between August 2025-August 2026 for suburbs with at least 10 listings in the time frame.
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