INSIDE THIS EDITION…
SOLAR SUCCESS, PAGE 3
28 JANUARY - 10 FEBRUARY, 2022 BELLARINE’S NUMBER ONE NEWSPAPER
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Hot summer fun and Maddie took advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures at Ocean Grove main beach on Monday. For more Ivan Kemp photographs, see page 11
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Almost perfect weather greeted us for the final full week of the school holidays. Many visitors took an extra long weekend to enjoy all that the Bellarine has to offer. Daniel, Ben, Lis Symon and her daughters Billie
House prices skyrocket By Justin Flynn Median house prices across the Bellarine have skyrocketed during the past year, according to figures released by Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Median prices jumped by more than $200,000 in Ocean Grove in 2021, from $776,000 to $980,000, according to the data. Hodges Ocean Grove director Jason Burmistrow said the Bellarine is proving popular for a number of reasons. “There has been low supply over the past
two years,” he said. “Over the peak of COVID there would have been only 65 to 70 homes for sale (in Ocean Grove) where prior to COVID we had 130 to 140 properties for sale,” he said. Flexible working conditions had contributed to the sharp rise in prices, according to Mr Burmistrow.’ “The majority of buyers who purchased homes over the COVID period are those who have been flexible with work and the consensus with most workplaces is that flexibility will continue within peoples’ job
roles going forward,” he said. “It’s very common for people from Melbourne when they come out here, they say how relaxed the people are and how relaxed the lifestyle is. “We’ve had so many people who have gone to the caravan parks for the last 20 years and we’ve always wanted to live here and now with work we finally can.” The median price in Barwon Heads rose from $1.267 million to $1.557 million, according to the REIV figures, while the median price for a house in Drysdale
is now $889,000. Mr Burmistrow said first home buyers were the big losers following the release of the latest data. “It’s really hard for first-home buyers getting into the Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Wallington market,” he said. “What we are seeing is a lot of first-home buyers needing to go out that little bit further into Armstrong Creek or Curlewis or Clifton Springs, where the median prices are a bit lower.”
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