(Is there anything more dull than people talking about house prices?)

Age (last Saturday, I think — can’t find it online) reported on the latest annual rise in median house prices around Melbourne — up 11.7% overall.

Of the suburbs rising, many are those close to the city and/or with good access to transport and facilities. In the outer suburbs, some prices have gone up a bit, some have dropped, but median prices in some areas are still affordable. (See my post on why some suburbs are expensive, some affordable.)

It’s just over two years since I bought my place in Bentleigh. According to the figures, prices in the suburb have gone up a massive 34.6% in the past year. Madness!

It’s not that I want to gloat or anything — it’s really more of a relief for when I glance at my bank statements and note the dizzying amount of money being poured out in interest on the mortgage (HOW much in the past year?!?) At least by jumping in when and where I did, I’ve gained on the market.

I love living here, but the suburb is getting too expensive. From the Age a couple of weeks ago:

He [Nick Renna from Hocking Stuart] said Bentleigh buyers who had been “priced out of houses” were now compromising, rather than searching further out. A house on a subdivided block at 1/10 Pleasance Street sold for $471,000 and a single-storey townhouse at 1/8 Laurel Street, Bentleigh East, sold for $630,000, way above the $540,000 reserve.

So if you’re still looking for a house to buy, and considering Bentleigh… well, I love the location, the lifestyle is great, everything’s so convenient… but geez, it’s getting way too overpriced!