Surge in peninsula million-dollar homes

BY HAMISH HEARD
The amount of home owners sitting on million-dollar-plus residential properties in City of Greater Geelong has more than doubled in the past two years, according to new figures.
Unprecedented demand for up-market property has led to the number of homes valued over $1 million rising from 16 to 378 between 2000 and 2006, an increase of more than 2000 per cent.
According to Property Victoria, the amount of million-dollar plus properties in Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula has risen 140 per cent since 2004.
The figure eclipses the statewide average increase of 18 per cent.
Residential property in Borough of Queenscliffe had also experienced strong price growth, with the amount of homes worth more than $1 million rising more than 50 per cent to 132.
Neville Richards Real Estate director Luke Campbell said a strong economy had combined with an increased awareness of the Bellarine Peninsula’s sought-after attributes to drive up prices in the area.
The St Leonards-based agent said a peaceful lifestyle had become a major criteria for big-spending house hun-ters, resulting in a spike in demand.
“More buyers are showing interest from metropolitan areas like Melbourne, Ballarat and Bendigo and as a result we’ve seen several million-dollar plus sales of both rural and residential land over the past few years,” Mr Campbell said.
In Geelong, Cuthbertson’s Real Es-tate property consultant Heather Boal said the figures were not surprising.
“When you look at Western Beach and Eastern Beach, the vast majority of properties along there are worth in excess of $1 million,” Ms Boal said.
“And there’s several streets in Newtown that attract very hefty price tags.”
Surf Coast properties in the million-dollar-plus bracket surged 65 per cent in the past two years to 284.