By Laura Michell
Five Whittlesea and Hume suburbs have been named among Melbourne’s top 50 suburbs for affordability and liveability.
The list, compiled by People’s Choice, identifies the suburbs which offer the best mix of affordability and liveability across Melbourne’s north, east, south-east and west.
Montmorency in the north took out top spot on the list, scoring the highest liveability ranking.
Hume’s highest-ranked suburb was Kalkallo, which came in at number 25.
People’s Choice chief executive Steve Laidlaw said Kalkallo was an attractive suburb for buyers.
“Kalkallo … is 30 kilometres from the GPO but it is significantly more affordable with a median price of $547,500 and ranks highly overall thanks to an exceptionally low crime rate,” he said.
Dallas (35th) and Roxburgh Park (45th) also made the top 50.
Whittlesea’s highest-ranked suburb was Lalor (33rd), followed by South Morang (49th).
People’s Choice also compiled a list of the top 20 suburbs for first-home buyers, based on the suburbs with high liveability and a median property price under $600,000, enabling buyers to participate in the federal government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
Under the scheme, the government guarantees 15 per cent of the purchase price of a property, while buyers contribute a five per cent deposit.
Kalkallo was named as Melbourne’s fourth-best suburb for first-home buyers, followed by Dallas (5th), Roxburgh Park (9th), Meadow Heights (13th) Coolaroo (15th) and Thomastown (19th). Sydenham was named as the top suburb.
“Property prices recovered from a year of spectacular drops but the coronavirus has raised an additional challenge for this recovery,” Mr Laidlaw said.
“There’s no more popping out to an open house or sneaking into an auction to get a feel for the market. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good time for first-home buyers. Quite the opposite.”
