It’s a buyers market in Daylesford with many more properties for sale than a year ago. Sellers are having to lower their price expectations.
Government has introduced a Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) and a tax on short term rentals that make it less attractive to own holiday rental properties in Daylesford.
A number of owners have decided to sell and there is a glut in the market. There are currently 187 houses listed, 38% greater than reported 12 months ago (136 in Feb 2025). On the current rate of sales it will take a year or more for them all to sell.
Many houses have now been on the market for over 12 months and properties are now being heavily discounted to sell (20 to 30+% not uncommon).
There were 83 houses sold in Daylesford and surrounding areas in the last 6 months as the table below shows.
Houses Sold
| Total | Belle | Biggins & Scott | McQueen | Jellis Craig | Others | ||
| Daylesford | 41 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 3 | |
| Hepburn | 14 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Glenlyon | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Others * | 25 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
| Total | 83 | 30 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 7 |
Incl * Wheatsheaf, Coomoora, Musk
Of the houses sold in Daylesford most reported a selling price. About a third sold for under $700K, about little over a quarter sold between $700k and a $ 1 million, and a further third were sold for over $ 1 million. The average (median) price for Daylesford was $795K.
Houses for sale
| Total | Belle | Biggins | McQueen | Jellis Craig | Others | ||
| Daylesford | 109 | 24 | 32 | 29 | 12 | 12 | |
| Hepburn | 37 | 3 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 3 | |
| Glenlyon | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Others | 34 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 5 | |
| Total | 187 | 36 | 55 | 50 | 25 | 21 |
Of the properties listed for sale, the median asking price is $990K (25% higher than the average sale price achieved in the last 6 mths). In total almost half (90) properties are list above $1 million with 38 above $1.5 million.
Given only 21 houses sold for greater than $1 million across the region in six months vendors seem to have unrealistic expectations in a soft market.
The picture is similar for vacant land sales. There sales were slow for thes properties with only 13 properties sold over the 6 months. But this may reflect issues with reporting from estate sales and therefore underreporting.
Land Sales
| Total | Belle | Biggins & Scott | McQueen | Jellis Craig | Others | ||
| Daylesford | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Hepburn | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Glenlyon | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Others | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 13 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
(source realestate.com)
A real estate consultant very familiar with the area commented
“The formula for any vendor seeking a successful sale process is to correctly price their property , and invest adequate marketing to attract the target market. and
Vendors need be cautious/wary when listing to ensure their selling expectations are achievable and not just select on the basis the initial asking price or a low marketing investment.
Our region requires specific marketing to attract a wide range of buyers.
80% of buyers are located in metro Melbourne & interstate. Vendors need to
Consider that a regional Vic purchase have lots choices besides Daylesford
A campaign needs to be extensive to drive buyer engagement “
