If you are researching where to invest in Victoria, the growth corridors ringing Melbourne and the regional centres beyond them tell a clear story. Prices are moving, rental demand is tight, and commute times keep shrinking as infrastructure catches up with population growth. This article walks through the real suburb level data behind that story: medians, rental yields, growth rates and commute times for the corridors ACIGP researches when it selects sites for purpose built development.
One thing to be clear on before you read further. The figures below are general residential market data, the kind of numbers a standard three bedroom house or a unit in these suburbs is achieving today. They are not ACIGP’s returns, and they are not what a purpose built NDIS, co-living or triple living dwelling delivers. That distinction matters, and we come back to it below.
Where a figure is not available, it means the underlying research does not report it for that suburb, not that it is zero or negligible. The western corridor is where population growth and infrastructure spend are most visible right now. Werribee has posted a 7.8 percent annual compound growth rate on houses, against a median of $660,000, and sits a 35 minute drive from the CBD and 40 minutes from Geelong. It is also a young corridor: the demographic profile leans heavily toward 25 to 34 year olds and young children, backed by amenity like Werribee River and Bend Park and its own railway station. Tarneit, a little further out at 3029, has a $675,000 house median and a 4.1 percent rental yield, with three shopping centres (Tarneit Central, Tarneit Gardens and Riverdale Village) inside a 35 to 40 minute drive of the CBD. Bacchus Marsh, at 3340, sits at the outer edge of the corridor with a $640,000 house median, a 45 to 50 minute drive to the CBD, and its own V/Line train connection through to Melbourne and Ballarat via the Western Freeway. Sunbury’s numbers stand out for the combination of yield and growth: a $720,000 house median carrying a 3.9 percent yield and 6.7 percent annual growth, 40 minutes from the CBD and just 20 minutes from Tullamarine Airport. Clyde North, 50 minutes from the CBD with a $750,000 house median, a 4.2 percent yield and 3.5 percent growth, was listed in Smart Property Investment’s 2026 FAST 50 report for savvy investors, a signal that the wider investment market is watching this corridor too. Cranbourne is the standout on growth in this data set: a 9.1 percent annual compound growth rate on houses, a $720,000 median and a 4.0 percent yield, driven by what the research describes as massive infrastructure projects underway in the area. Cranbourne East, immediately adjacent, has a $749,500 median sold price for houses, though yield and growth figures were not reported for that specific pocket. Geelong itself, Victoria’s second largest city and home to Deakin University’s waterfront campus, carries a $875,000 house median and a 3.4 percent rental yield (4.5 percent for units), an hour from the Melbourne CBD. Armstrong Creek, on Geelong’s growth fringe at 3217, has a $682,500 median sold price for houses and a 5.0 percent annual compound growth rate, the strongest growth figure recorded for that suburb in this data set. It sits 20 minutes from Geelong CBD via Marshall train station, 1 hour 15 minutes from the Melbourne CBD, and is well placed for both airports: 1 hour 10 minutes to Tullamarine and 35 minutes to Avalon. Outside the Melbourne commuter belt, Bendigo carries a $635,000 house median with a solid 5.0 percent rental yield and 2.4 percent annual growth, the strongest standalone yield figure in this entire data set. Sebastopol, on the edge of urban Ballarat, is a smaller but tightly held market: a $500,000 median sale price, a population of 10,194, a recent 2.62 percent annual growth surge, and a rental vacancy rate of just 1.3 percent, with around 35 percent of occupants renting. Phoenix College and the area’s sustainable agriculture base give it a stable local employment mix, and it ranks as the third most populated area in urban Ballarat. Every figure above describes the standard residential market: an ordinary house or unit bought and rented at market rates, no different from what any investor could buy in that suburb today. Across this entire data set, standard residential yields sit in a fairly narrow band, roughly 3 to 5 percent, whichever corridor you look at. Growth rates vary more, from 2.4 percent up to 9.1 percent depending on the suburb and the infrastructure driving it, but the yield story is consistent: standard residential income in these growth corridors is modest. That is precisely why purpose built property exists as a category. Building a dwelling specifically for the NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) market, or for co-living or triple living tenancies, changes the income structure entirely, because you are no longer renting a standard three bedroom house to a single household. ACIGP targets a 10 to 15 percent yield range for NDIS SDA property, and 8 to 10 percent for co-living and triple living property, based on current market conditions. Those are targets, not guarantees, and your own numbers will depend on the location, the design category, participant or tenant demand, and how the property is financed. What the suburb data above tells you is where the underlying market fundamentals, population growth, infrastructure investment and commute access, are strongest. Those same fundamentals matter for purpose built property too: a growth corridor with rising population and transport investment is a stronger place to build an SDA, co-living or triple living asset than a suburb with none of that momentum. The suburb research is the starting point. The purpose built structure is what changes the return profile once you have picked the location. This is general information only and not financial, tax or legal advice. Speak to a licensed adviser about your circumstances. Ready to see how a purpose built NDIS, co-living or triple living property in one of these corridors could perform for you? Book a free Returns Assessment with ACIGP and we will walk you through the numbers for your goals and your budget.
Suburb
Median Price
Rental Yield
Annual Growth
Commute to Melbourne CBD
Bendigo
$635,000 (houses)
5.0%
2.4% (houses)
Regional Victoria
Bacchus Marsh, 3340
$640,000 houses / $447,500 units
Not available
Not available
45 to 50 min drive
Tarneit, 3029
$675,000 houses / $456,750 units
4.1% houses / 4.4% units
Not available
35 to 40 min drive
Werribee, 3030
$660,000
3.7%
7.8% (houses)
35 min drive
Sunbury
$720,000 (houses)
3.9%
6.7% (houses)
40 min drive
Clyde North
$750,000 (houses)
4.2%
3.5% (houses)
50 min drive
Cranbourne
$720,000 (houses)
4.0%
9.1% (houses)
1 hour drive
Cranbourne East
$749,500 (houses, median sold)
Not available
Not available
Not available
Geelong, 3220
$875,000 houses / $542,500 units
3.4% houses / 4.5% units
Not available
1 hour drive
Armstrong Creek, 3217
$682,500 (houses, median sold)
Not available
5.0% (houses)
1 hour 15 min to CBD, 20 min to Geelong CBD
Sebastopol
$500,000
Not available
2.62%
Regional Ballarat