Get a property report and suburb profile for any property in Epping

Epping is a northern Melbourne suburb that mixes established streets of weatherboard and brick homes with newer housing estates and townhouses, creating a practical, family-oriented community of about 33,489 people and a median age of 35. The area includes long-term residents alongside newer arrivals, and roughly seven in ten homes are owner-occupied while about 30% are rented.

The suburb’s centre has a sizeable shopping precinct and a strip of local shops and cafés, and schools, medical centres, a library and active sporting clubs support day-to-day life. Public transport is centred on Epping station on the Mernda line, and there are parks and creekside reserves for recreation. Epping is also the focus of a council-led precinct plan for the activity centre, and a number of major transport and station car-park projects are being planned. Whether it suits you will come down to how much you value nearby services, rail access and a suburb shaped around families and owner-occupied housing.

On the figures, buying a house in Epping at the current median price of $721,500 works out to about 8.3 times a typical local household's annual income as recorded at the most recent Census (weekly household income $1,671, or $86,892 a year). Renting looks less stretched: the average house rent of $550 a week would take about 33% of that typical local weekly household income at the last Census, a sizeable share, while the average unit rent of $450 a week would take about 27%, a more moderate share. In other words, buying is notably more stretched against local incomes at the last Census than renting.

Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's important to consider your own circumstances when deciding which suburb is right for you.

Unit values in Epping climbed 10.6% over the past year, a strong rise, while house values rose 9.2%, a solid gain. Those value changes point to capital growth over the year, with unit prices growing slightly faster than house prices. The rent a house earned in Epping edged up only marginally, rising 1.9% over the same period, so rental income moved much less than house prices. Whether that balance suits your plans depends on your own goals and circumstances.

This information has been prepared without taking your objectives, needs and overall financial situation into account. It is not meant to be a substitute for professional financial advice. For this reason, you should consider the appropriateness of the information and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.