Mickleham has been named the top building growth suburb in Australia for 2021 by the Housing Industry Association.
The report listed the top 20 growth areas – what it calls hotspots – around the country, with 11 in Victoria, including Wollert at number four.
Nationally, an area qualifies as a hotspot if more than $150 million worth of residential building work was approved during the 2019/20 financial year, and its rate of population growth is faster than the 1.3 per cent national average.
Mickleham’s population growth rate is 32.8 per cent, and more than $400 million of residential development was approved between 2019 and 2020.
In Wollert that figure was higher at $431 million, balanced out by a population growth of 20.3 per cent.
“Mickleham – Yuroke has been a regular in the National Top 20 Building Hotspots list over the past couple of years,” HIA executive director Fiona Nield said.
“The majority of the growth is in the fringe of Melbourne as the city expands [and] significant infrastructure investment has occurred in this region to accommodate strong population growth in Victoria for several years.”
As the report is based on pre-pandemic data, Ms Neild acknowledges the next report may look different, and that a lack of immigration and Melbourne’s extended lockdown in 2020 may impact peri-urban growth.
“It will be interesting to see if this trend of Victoria dominating the national list continues in future editions of this report. COVID-19 has seen a halt to overseas migration, which is a large part of Victoria’s population growth, as well as an increase in the number of residents leaving Melbourne for the rest of the country,” she said.
Mickleham was also Australia’s fastest growing suburb in 2018-19 financial year, thanks to its proximity to Melbourne.
The current median house price in Mickleham $595,000, which has increased from $550,000 in June 2020. The median price is below Victoria’s, which is $674,000.
