Buying houses in Melbourne – house buyers’ guide

Land rarely comes available for one-off housing development in Melbourne and when it does, it is generally not possible for foreigners to purchase. Prices are also quite high and have been rising, albeit modestly, for some time. The price of vacant land in the Melbourne area rose by 1.5 per cent in 2006; a time when the city’s property industry in general was surging ahead.

The government has undertaken a series of measures recently to help control the rate of land appreciation. Among the measures was the release of state-owned land onto the open market for development. Although the moves were hailed as a success at the time, it is not yet clear whether they will still be viewed over the coming years as the global financial slowdown triggered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US begins to take its toll on the Melbourne property market.

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