Revealed: The Melbourne suburb defying the city’s property slump

For Romsey’s Murphy family the suburb on Melbourne’s outer northern fringe has been a way to get out of the traffic and the rush of metropolitan life.

The suburb has just emerged as the city’s top growth spot for the past three months, defying the odds as a whopping 93 per cent of suburbs across the Victorian capital lost ground.

Sandra and Paul Murphy were thrilled to discover it had escaped the wider city’s home price hit, having recently sold a secondary property of theirs in the suburb without any difficulty.

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“I think a lot of people are just looking for more space, up here the blocks are quite a bit larger,” Ms Murphy said.

“And people who are still looking for that country feel that Romsey still has. We have just got a Coles in, and that was probably needed to supplement the IGA.

“But we only have two sets of traffic lights, and those are pedestrian crossings — so I’m OK with that. You have no idea in Melbourne how long you spend at traffic lights.”

The family moved there from Bayswater hoping for a bit more country feel and space for their kids Alex, 15, and Cheyenne, 18, as well as their six-year-old poodle Ollie, than their old backyard had afforded them.

And while they appreciate being close enough to reach the city if they want, the couple mostly stick to the Macedon Ranges and the immediate surrounds even when working within their Murphys Plumbing Vic business.

While she felt the area offered good value for money and it wasn’t surprising to see it as the top performing suburb in the city, she said it was wild seeing homes selling for $900,000 and even $1m in the neighbourhood.

Ray White’s Joshua Reeves said the Murphys had been an early wave of families moving to the area for more space.

“Mum and dad buyers are coming from their dirt house and looking to upsize, not necessarily the house, but the backyard,” Mr Reeves said.

“And the first thing a lot of them do is put in a shed. Or, if you get a house with a good shed – you get people all over it.

“People want the space and to have the fresh air and to not see their neighbour every time they go past their window.”

Melbourne’s doom-defying house markets

Source: PropTrack June 2026 AVM

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