Northcote becomes Melbourne’s second priciest inner-north suburb
Talk about gentrification and its effect on Melbourne property prices – and it won’t be long until Northcote comes up.
For generations until recently a working-class area, the suburb carries a median house price of $1.5 million according to recent data – even more than neighbouring Fitzroy North, which is closer to the city (but where the average house sells for $1.48 million).
In fact, Northcote values are second only to Parkville in the city’s inner-north according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria June figures.
Melbourne’s inner north
Melbourne’s inner-north is deemed to include suburbs from Carlton through to Coburg’s Bell Street – this thoroughfare sometimes called the “tofu curtain” or “hipster-proof fence” because the bohemians which drive the local property markets don’t want to live on the other side of it.
The popularity of Northcote by buyers and renters has seen developers of all sizes recently invest there.
Malaysia-backed Beulah International recently paid $13 million for a Cunningham Street site with plans for a medium-density housing project.
Chip Eng Seng, which is Singapore listed, paid $27m in 2015 for a 1.8 hectare Separation St factory, also mooted for flats.
Pace Development Group has just completed a High St project with 114 dwellings – three quarters of which sold off-the-plan in the first few months of a marketing campaign.
In 2016, Northcote’s house price record was set several times (it is now $4.3m, for a Cunningham St house.
But demand for real estate in the suburb was bubbling for a few years before then: in 2012, a buyer paid $1.4m for a home which sold six months earlier for $850,000.
“Cafes, restaurants, shops, parks and enchanting residential streets” are amongst the reasons Adepto Co director David Tricarico says Northcote is recognised as one of Melbourne’s most vibrant suburbs.
Public transport makes it convenient too, he adds.
Northcote has five train stations along two lines, an extensive tram network, and bike paths.
It is six kilometres from the Melbourne CBD.
“Northcote’s central shopping plaza along with the abundance of boutique bars, pubs, shops and even an upscale cinema on High St has boosted its attraction with another dimension of buyers,” Mr Tricarico says.
Adepto Co is a boutique developer which, since establishing in 2010, has focused on creating medium density homes for generational living, targeted to owner-occupiers.
It will launch its Helix of Northcote project this month.
“Helix is a unique development for Northcote located in the highly desired Westgarth precinct which consists of five triple storey town homes, each with street frontage and individual driveway and garages.
“These oversized town homes will range from 20-27 squares and are designed to accommodate young growing families, professional couples and downsizers”.
They are priced from $1.35-$1.7m.
In 2010 the suburbs of Northcote and Maribyrnong topped a report for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute at Swinburne and Monash universities: Gentrification and Displacement: The Household Impacts of Neighbourhood Change.
The paper acknowledged that residents in both communities earned less than the metropolitan average prior to 1996 when a dramatic shift saw groups such as lawyers, and university graduates move in amongst the retirees, labourers, tradespeople and students.
Mr Tricarico agrees, saying that young professionals, families and the highly-educated middle aged market are behind the surge in the suburb’s price increases.
“It’s no surprise that Northcote’s median price for both houses and units has boomed in recent years, its popularity is set to only increase,” he says.
Out with the old, in with the new
Former Joshua Pitt Tannery, Gadd Street
• Manufacturing ceased in 2003 after 121 years
• Following a land rezoning, the site sold to Glenvill Homes which replaced it with 123 townhouses and 53 apartments. Two bedroom townhouses have recently sold for upwards of $700,000.
Former Northcote Brickworks
• With roots starting in 1866, the former Northcote brickworks operated on and off until 1977 when it was sold to the Northcote Council for use as a tip.
• In 1981, Northcote Plaza was constructed on part of the site where kilns stood.
• The former quarry, which operated as a tip between 1998 and 2002, was replaced with the All Nations Park
• In 2009, Acacia On the Park, one of Melbourne’s first “suburban high rise apartment projects” was built
Northcote Central
• In 2017, a consortium paid $34m for the tired Northcote Central shopping centre at the north-east corner of High and Separation streets, a complex which replaced the Carters Arms Hotel.
• The property was marketed for its potential to be replaced with a mixed-use complex containing high rise apartments.
Site where Batman’s Treaty is thought to have been signed
• A 5018 sqm site near to the Rushall Train station, where local elder Chief Billibellary lived, is believed by historians and the local council to be where the (voided) Batman’s Treaty was signed.
• This holding at 2A and 2B Cunningham St sold last year – the marketing agents touting the land’s Residential 1 zoning for its potential to be replaced with a medium density housing project.
Former Northcote Cable Tramways
• In March, a developer paid $9m for the Northcote Cable Tramways site, which is actually in Thornbury.
• Painted green for years prior selling, the marketing agents promoted this 2409 sqm site with concept plans for a mixed-use complex which would build into the airspace. A developer recently completed construction of a seven storey apartment building at 630 High St, which is next door to the tramways site.
| Median | Median | |
| Suburb | House value | Unit value |
| Parkville | $2,240,000 | $670,000 |
| Northcote | $1,500,000 | $604,000 |
| Fitzroy North | $1,480,000 | $719,000 |
| Fitzroy | $1,450,000 | $680,000 |
| Carlton North | $1,410,000 | $695,000 |
| Clifton Hill | $1,410,000 | $950,000 |
| North Melbourne | $1,360,000 | $578,000 |
| Thornbury | $1,300,000 | $715,000 |
| Abbotsford | $1,290,000 | $568,000 |
| Brunswick East | $1,280,000 | $470,000 |
| Carlton | $1,230,000 | $606,000 |
| Brunswick | $1,160,000 | $590,000 |
| Preston | $1,101,000 | $600,000 |
| Brunswick West | $1,100,000 | $500,000 |
| Collingwood | $1,100,000 | $577,000 |
| Pascoe Vale South | $1,100,000 | $700,000 |
| Coburg North | $995,000 | $668,000 |
| Pascoe Vale | $971,000 | $626,000 |
| Coburg | $963,000 | $640,000 |
| Reservoir | $821,000 | $578,000 |
| Glenroy | $762,000 | $565,000 |
| Fawkner | $750,000 | $510,000 |
| Source: REIV June 2018 |
Suburbs north-east and north-west of the city, including Alphington, Ascot Vale and Moonee Ponds are off the hipster radar according to agents – and not included in this list. It is worth noting however that Northcote’s median house price is higher than most north-western suburbs, but not Aberfeldie, a riverside pocket of Essendon.
