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Best areas to invest in Geelong, Torquay, and Lorne 2025

Profile photo of Andy Webb,  Editorial Writer at OpenAgent

Written by 

Andy Webb.

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 Reviewed by 

OpenAgent articles are reviewed by real estate experts and professionals. Our reviewers confirm the content is thorough, accurate and reflective of current trends and best practice. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more about our editorial policy and review board here.
Johanna Seton.

Johanna is one of the co-CEOs of OpenAgent. She has over 8 years of experience in the real estate industry through her work at OpenAgent and holds a class 2 real estate license in NSW. Previously, Johanna worked at hipages.com.au, Australia's largest trade marketplace, where she built her experience understanding renovations and home improvements for 7+ years.

Learn more about our editorial guidelines.

Looking to invest in real estate in Geelong, Torquay or Lorne?

While the pandemic “flight from the cities” is more-or-less over, Geelong remains popular with buyers, although prices have flattened over the past year. Conditions are also softer on the Surf Coast, where regional Victoria’s most expensive property markets are feeling the effects of high interest rates and rising costs of living.

Let’s look closer at how the property markets in Geelong, Torquay and Lorne fared in 2024 and what experts are forecasting for the year ahead.

What did the property market in Geelong, Torquay, and Lorne look like in 2024?

geelong property market

The property market in Geelong, Torquay, and Lorne experienced a challenging 2024, reflecting broader struggles across both Melbourne and regional Victoria. 

According to CoreLogic’s Regional Market Update, Victoria was the worst-performing state for property price growth, with regional home values falling by 2.7 per cent annually, slightly outperforming Melbourne’s 3 per cent decline. Despite signs of resilience in some areas, buyers remained cautious, and affordability constraints combined with economic uncertainty contributed to a relatively soft market.

Geelong, Victoria’s largest regional centre, closely mirrored the state’s performance, with property prices also declining by 2.7 per cent over the year. The city’s median property price dropped to $710,211, positioning it around $60,000 cheaper than Melbourne. 

Properties also took longer to sell, with Days on Market increasing from 41 days in December 2023 to 47 days in December 2024. However, rental yields saw a slight improvement, rising from 3.4 to 3.6 per cent, while asking rents increased by 3.7 per cent, suggesting that the rental market remained relatively stable despite broader market softness.

Along the Surf Coast, property values saw steeper declines, particularly in Torquay and Lorne. 

Torquay’s median house price fell by 5.6 per cent, while Lorne recorded an even sharper drop of 8.4 per cent. The unit market showed some contrasting trends, with Torquay units rising by 9.5 per cent, likely benefiting from affordability-driven demand. However, Lorne’s unit prices slumped by 12.1 per cent, reflecting a softer demand for holiday and investment properties in the high-end coastal market. 

These mixed results suggest investors should assess specific property types and locations carefully, as different segments of the market are responding in unique ways to current economic conditions.

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Torquay, Lorne, and Geelong property market forecast 2025

The Geelong, Torquay, and Lorne property markets are expected to face some ongoing challenges in 2025, with forecasts pointing to either mild declines or minimal growth. 

Domain predicts regional Victorian house prices will fall between 3 and 5 per cent over the year, with units expected to hold up slightly better, moving between 0 and -2 per cent. This suggests that buyers will retain the upper hand, with affordability and market confidence playing a significant role in shaping property values.

For Geelong specifically, Propertyology forecasts price changes of between -2 per cent and +1 per cent, reflecting ongoing market softness. They note that while Geelong has been Victoria’s strongest destination for internal migration since 2009, transaction volumes have dropped by 20 per cent since 2021, and an oversupply of housing stock has weighed on price growth. Buyer confidence remains subdued, and vendors will need to adjust their expectations accordingly in 2025 as demand remains tempered by affordability constraints and broader economic conditions.

Looking at the Surf Coast, lifestyle destinations like Torquay and Lorne remain desirable, but Domain’s head of research Dr Nicola Powell said prices are expected to stabilise. “We saw an extreme rate of property price growth in many of these lifestyle locations in Victoria … There are periods where we see them rise, and there are periods where we see the decline,” she explained. Despite the downturn, long-term demand remains strong, with Powell highlighting that coastal suburbs with a strong local economy and proximity to a capital city will always hold appeal with buyers.

Nationally, Domain identifies several factors that could push prices up or down in 2025. Upwards price drivers include the ongoing housing shortfall, with building approvals at decade-low levels, an expected interest rate-cutting cycle, and the return of buyer FOMO if borrowing conditions ease. However, economic uncertainties, stretched affordability, and high interest rates—even if they decline—will continue to put downward pressure on prices. 

For investors looking at Geelong, Torquay, and Lorne, this means understanding both the risks and opportunities at play before making a move in 2025.

Best suburbs to invest in Geelong, Torquay and Lorne in 2025

REA’s Hot 100 Suburbs to Watch 2025 picked Geelong West as its standout suburb for the region, with a median house price of $730,000, recording annual growth of 1.0 per cent in 2024, while units sit at $510,000, up 7.0 per cent over the year.

The suburb is a hotspot for young professionals and first-home buyers, featuring renovated period homes and modern dwellings, and offering a vibrant lifestyle with boutique shopping, cafés, and proximity to Port Phillip Bay. According to REA’s list, the market appears to have bottomed out after post-2021 declines, with renewed buyer interest and strong long-term growth potential as the city’s population continues to expand.

SQM Research's Boom and Bust Report 2024 highlighted a number of Geelong suburbs as being ripe for investment opportunity, particularly those in the 3216 postcode:

  • Belmont, median house price $690,000, up +0.7% over the past year, average annual growth +5.2%.
  • Grovedale, median house price $660,000, down -0.3% over the past year, average annual growth +5.9%.
  • Highton, median house price $850,000, down -5.6% over the past year, average annual growth +4.4%.

The report also pointed to the Geelong suburb of Leopold as a potential outperformer in the medium term:

  • Leopold, median house price $665,000, down -1.8% over the past year, average annual growth +5.5%.

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