By BEN CAMERON
All-time high prices, yet Pakenham still affordable…
PAKENHAM remains one of the most affordable suburbs for buying a house, despite prices setting record-breaking highs which are set to continue according to the latest figures released by national observers.
According to PriceFinder – an independent company who monitors housing prices, the Pakenham market saw a price jump of nearly five per cent last year.
On average this translated to a $15,000 leap in 12 months – the biggest improvement in over four years.
While those figures have been backed by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, Pakenham remained the eighth most affordable suburb in Melbourne for the December quarter.
REIV spokesperson Paul Bird said there had been an almost $11,000 increase – or 2.5 per cent – for the December quarter.
“Despite the growth, Pakenham is still one of Melbourne’s more affordable suburbs as of 31 December,” he said.
“It has dropped down the list a bit. But it was on the list for most of 2014.
“It’s in a very good position in terms of access to local amenities, schools, shops and to the coastal areas and rural land also.
“We expect Pakenham to be very popular in 2015, so it may well drop out of the list.”
Angela and Lindsay McDonald, who recently sold their Pakenham property, said they were amazed at the price they sold for.
“It was more than what we expected,” Angela said.
“It was quite a surprise for us.
“I was concerned that the time of year wasn’t right for selling when compared to spring but as it turned out, it didn’t matter.”
It took the McDonalds only six days to sell their property on Amberley Drive and in that time they were presented with five contracts.
“We were very impressed by the numbers that came through,” Mrs McDonald said.
“The property went on the market on Thursday and by Saturday afternoon we had 13 people view the property.”
However, it has been difficult to buy for some.
Suresh and Maheshika Kanavitage, who purchased the McDonald family home, said they had been looking to buy for eight months.
“We’ve been looking for a long time,” Mrs Kanavitage said.
“We were lucky we got this house.
“Over the eight months of searching, we’ve seen lots of properties but when I saw this house, I said I want to buy this one.
“We had put an offer on another house but missed out, so we were determined to get this one.
“I love Pakenham. We’ve been living here for four months and we can’t wait to become part of the community.”
