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Bendigo is outperforming every other regional city in Victoria, including Ballarat.
- Luke Goggin
TO buy a property for $320,000 in Melbourne, you could afford a tiny bedsit in the inner city, a unit in an outer suburb or a house on the urban fringes, says RP Data analyst Robert Larocca.
If you went for the latter option, you would likely have to contend with a significant commute to work and live in an area with minimal infrastructure and greenery.
In Bendigo, on the other hand, $320,000 - the median house price - would get you a brand new, 3-bedroom brick veneer in an outer suburb or an older house in the city centre.
For those with a little extra cash to splash, for $550,000 could buy you a stylish, four-bedroom house with a swimming pool or a comfortable rural property on a large block of land.
With recent news reports highlighting Melbourne's lack of affordable housing and a slowing property market, those in the know say the story in Bendigo couldn't be more different.
"There's been a lot of negative talk in Melbourne but it's the opposite here," said local real estate agent Luke Goggin.
"Bendigo is outperforming every other regional city in Victoria, including Ballarat."
Indeed, RP Data's figures show the median price rise for property in Bendigo was 10 per cent in the year leading up to March.
It was 3.8 per cent in the past quarter.
Bendigo significantly outperformed Melbourne, where the median property rise was 7.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.
A V/Line employee who works at Bendigo Station but wanted to remain anonymous, said increasing numbers of people were moving to Bendigo and surrounds and commuting to Melbourne for work.
"There are hundreds - you're looking at big numbers," he said. "It's our second busiest line in Victoria. Most of them are quite happy to commute - it's a two-hour each way journey on a comfortable train."
"The lifestyle's better - you've got the beautiful country lifestyle. You could get a mansion in Bendigo for $500,000."