Ballarat Property Market Update 2nd Half 2025
Ballarat, Victoria, offers a perfect balance of heritage charm and modern amenities, with excellent schools, parks, and a thriving arts scene. Its affordable housing and easy access to Melbourne make it an ideal place to live.
Property Trends
In Q2 2025, Ballarat recorded a median house price of $560,000 and a median unit price of $385,000. This represents an annual (Q2 2024 – Q2 2025) price increase of 5.7% for houses and 5.2% for units. Comparing Q2 2024 and Q2 2025, total sales increased by 37.1% (to 632 sales in Q2 2025) for houses and by 44.0% (to 144 sales in Q2 2025) for units. This indicates a highly demanded market across both property types, as price growth is accompanied by higher number of sales, especially for units. Currently, house and unit prices are growing at a similar pace, creating an opportunity for buyers. That said, with limited ready-to-sell stock in the pipeline, buyers need to act fast.
Project Development
Ballarat will see approximately $668.1M of new projects commencing in 2025. Although there are residential projects planned for 2025, the limited number of townhouses (9), units (35), and houses (32) is insufficient to meet strong demand; especially when compared to the number of sales for Q2 2025 (632 houses and 144 units). This suggests the potential of an undersupply, which will push prices higher for all property types.
Rental Market & Growth
House rental yields in Ballarat were 3.4% as of June 2025, slightly higher than Melbourne Metro (3.1%). This is paired with a growth of 6.7% in the median house rental price in the past 12 months to Q2 2025, to $480 per week. The number of houses rented decreased by -10.9% (to 196 houses), indicating an undersupplied house rental market. With a more affordable entry price compared with Melbourne Metro, Ballarat is an attractive investment alternative – especially for first-time investors.
Vacancy Rates & Property Investment
Ballarat recorded a vacancy rate of 0.9% in June 2025, below Ballarat LGA’s average of 1.1% and Melbourne Metro’s 1.8%. Vacancy rates have decreased in the past 12 months, due to a higher number of renters returning to the rental market. Furthermore, a 0.9% vacancy rate is significantly below the Real Estate Institution of Australia’s healthy benchmark of 3.0%, suggesting quicker occupancy of rental homes in Ballarat. This is a conducive environment for investors, even with higher house and unit median prices (thus entry price) in the past 12 months to Q2 2025.
