There are numerous reasons why we think Melbourne and Victoria is worthy of consideration by property investors, notwithstanding the concerted efforts by the state government and some local councils to force investors to sell up and get as far away from Victoria as possible.

Melbourne and Victoria are underpinned by one of the nation’s strongest state economies, according to CommSec’s State of the States report, and there has been a notable uplift in sales activity since the start of 2024, pointing to elevated price growth as the year unfolds.

But perhaps the most compelling evidence, pointing to growing strength in the Melbourne market in particular, is the latest population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS figures describing population growth in 2023 are largely dominated by Melbourne.

While the annual growth rate for Australia was 2.4%, Melbourne rose 3.3% - which was the highest in the nation except for Perth.

The National Top 10 list for the fastest growing local government areas in Australia – that’s the percentage growth rate for the year - included three Melbourne LGAs, with the City of Melbourne the No.1 fastest growing municipality in the nation.

The Nearby City of Yarra and the City of Melton in the western suburbs also made the top 10 national list.

In terms of LGAs with the largest growth, the actual number of new people added to the population, four of the national Top 10 were in Melbourne – the City of Melbourne and three outer-ring growth areas, the municipalities of Wyndham, Casey and Melton.

At a suburb level, most of Australia’s fastest growing suburbs are in the Greater Melbourne area.

That includes the nation’s fastest growing suburb, Rockbank in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Of the top 12 fastest growing suburbs in Australia, 9 are in Greater Melbourne.

And of the nation’s top 30 fastest growing suburbs, 16 are in Greater Melbourne.

Now, to be clear, we’re not suggesting that population growth is the over-riding factor in choosing where to buy real estate. It’s one of many factors to take into account.

But, considered alongside all the other factors, it’s a pretty strong endorsement of Melbourne’s prospects – it’s a tale of growth and the remarkable thing is, Melbourne hasn’t delivered any major price growth recently.

That, I believe, will emerge later in 2024 and beyond.