Why Geelong is back on the radar among nation’s best spots to buy

Greater Geelong has been named among the nation’s 10 best places to buy in 2025. Picture: Alan Barber

Geelong is back on the national radar for homebuyers amid new figures revealing home prices are accelerating again.

Rising sales data reveals the growing haste of interstate investors looking to buy ahead of the growth cycle in Geelong, where affordability is at historically low levels.

Hotspotting’s Top 10 National Best Buys report names Greater Geelong among three Victorian areas where director Terry Ryder said buyers should purchase now.

A recent surge in sales activity has driven the turnaround in Hotspotting’s view of Geelong as a future growth market.

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“It’s reflective of the fact that regional Victoria had big growth from 2020 to 2022 and in the last couple of years a pause in the property cycle,” Mr Ryder said.

“Regional Victoria, led by Geelong, is starting the next upward cycle, so now’s the opportune time to be buying in places like that.”

Mr Ryder said there was also noticeable uplifts in sales activity in Bendigo, Ballarat and Shepparton in particular.

“The sales activity figures move first, and prices react to that later,” Mr Ryder said.

“So now is a good time for people to be buying in Geelong because it’s poised for a period of price growth.”

Hotspotting founder Terry Ryder said now is a good time for people to be buying in Geelong.

PropTrack’s latest home price index also reveals the momentum swing, with the median house price rising .82 per cent in August, cementing annual growth of $10,000.

Geelong’s median house price rise to $773,000 at the end of August, while the unit price climbed to $557,000.

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said that values or conditions in Geelong have turned around after a softer period in 2024.

“So, much like we’re seeing in Melbourne, a re-acceleration in home price growth in 2025 with interest rates having moved lower, buyer sentiment having improved, and of course, in Geelong you’ve also got the added factors of comparative affordability, lifestyle appeal and hybrid work flexibility,” Ms Creagh said.

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said affordability at historically low levels will drive demand for housing in Geelong.

“So that value-migration story that really reshaped demand patterns during the pandemic is still resonating with affordability at or close to historically low levels.

“Many are choosing to become more flexible with location – we’ve seen that trend pull back from the very elevated levels throughout the pandemic, but remaining above average in terms of that city to region migration story.”

Mr Ryder said Corio and Norlane are among the top 50 markets across Australia based on the recent jump in sales activity.

“They’re the two cheapest suburbs in Geelong and they’ve been very good performers in the past,” he said.

Interstate investors have been a strong group looking to get in early in Geelong. Picture: Alan Barber

Sales over the past five quarters rose from 50 to 97 in Corio, and from 31 to 82 in Norlane.

“That’s a pretty dramatic increase. It’s gone from being pretty mediocre over the past 12 months to where the last quarter’s sales activity have doubled. When that happens prices inevitably will rise.”

Maxwell Collins director Nick Lord said the city was witnessing unprecedented demand from interstate buyers, adding to rising interest in particular from first-home buyers.

The affordable long-term outlook appears strong from an investors’ point of view, he said.

“It is unusual that we see Victoria and Geelong as probably the most undervalued now around the country, we’ve never experienced as a business so much inquiry from wealthy interstate investors, from Sydney, Perth, Brisbane,” he said.

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