Michaela Meade
Homebuyers are continuing to flock to the northern suburbs, with Mickleham named as the nation’s top residential building hotspot.
According to the Housing Industry Association (HIA) Population & Residential Building Hotspots Report, the Mickleham-Yuroke corridor is leading the country in new home construction.
Mickleham recorded a population growth rate 32.8 per cent and $412.1 million in building approvals in 2019-20, according to the report.
Wollert was named as the nation’s fourth most popular building location, with a population growth rate of 20.3 per cent and $431.1 million in building approvals.
HIA defines a hotspot as an area with at least $150 million worth approved of residential building work and a population growth rate of more than 1.3 per cent the national average in 2019-20.
Rockbank-Mount Cottrell in Melbourne’s west, Riverstone-Marsden Park in Sydney and Cranbourne South in Melbourne’s south-east also made the top five building hotspots list.
HIA executive director Fiona Nield said Mickleham-Yuroke had been a regular in the top 20 building hotspots list over the past couple of years.
“The majority of the growth is in the fringe of Melbourne as the city expands,” Ms Nield said.
“Significant infrastructure investment has occurred in this region to accommodate strong population growth in Victoria for several years.
Villawood Properties, the developer of Wollert’s Rathdowne estate, said the northern suburbs were growing in popularity with buyers.
“We’ve had buyers falling over themselves to get in,” a spokesperson said.
“You only have to look at the record $903K our Good Friday Appeal Charity Home attracted at auction in April to see how keen people are to get into Rathdowne and Wollert.
“Areas like Wollert offer new facilities and a different lifestyle close to the country while still having a ready commute into Melbourne,” the spokesperson said.
“I expect we’ll only see more of this growth as working from home becomes the norm and as buyers seeking affordability, quality and an inclusive community lifestyle vote with their feet.”
