April 2021: How did Melbourne apartments perform over March?

Apartments across Melbourne continued to see solid price growth over March, with values jumping 2.1 per cent over the month.

That's the latest figures from property data firm CoreLogic, who have seen units values rising in Melbourne since October.

February the Victorian capital saw a growth of 1.2 per cent, which had been the largest gain since late 2019 before the March figures were revealed.

It's put Melbourne apartments 3.2 per cent up over the first quarter of 2021 after more modest 0.1 per cent gains in January. The quarterly unit performance is only behind Hobart (+8.6 per cent) and Sydney (+3.2 per cent).

Melbourne's median apartment values is now $593,121, up from $582,833 in February and $577,206 at the start of the year.

Last month CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless says there were tentative signs the trend of the housing market performing considerably stronger than the unit market could become less obvious.

Now Lawless says the unit market has turned a corner.

“Despite the underperformance, unit markets have turned a corner, with Sydney recording two consecutive months of rising values, while the Melbourne unit market has seen values consistently rising since October last year, with the trend accelerating over recent months.”

And there's good news for investors, with Lawless suggesting the unit rental markets in Melbourne and Sydney appear to be stabilising.

“Sydney unit rents have posted a subtle rise over the past three months, while unit rents in Melbourne have held firm over the same period.

"The improvement comes after a long running decline, however a material improvement in rental conditions is likely to be dependent on foreign students and visitors returning to shore up inner city unit rental demand.“