“We wanted to downsize, we still need to be near facilities and everything, but we’d just like a smaller home that hasn’t got as much maintenance, and we were just waiting for the signs that the market had looked like it was starting to be on the positive side,” she said. “They always say spring is the best time to put your house on the market.”
Hanton said she was happy to have found a buyer within two weeks, and credited part of their success to picking the right time to list.
Geraldine and Peter Hanton say they’ve benefited from a revived Mornington Peninsula property market. Credit: Simon Schluter
“I think that it shows that we were right in our reading of what’s happening in and around Melbourne,” she said. “It’s never very pleasant moving house, they say it’s up there with death and divorce, but it was very easy.”
Cotality data show house listings picked up towards the middle of 2025, and median days on market for houses dropped from a high of 33 days at the end of 2024 to 27 days in November.
Sayers & Co director Vicki Sayers who sold the Hantons’ home said the affordable neighbourhoods on the peninsula were attracting more interest, particularly among buyers from metro Melbourne or other states, while the prestige postcodes languished.
“I also think there’s a lot of people who bought holiday homes on the peninsula when money was cheap … there’s been kind of an oversupply of properties for sale in the southern part of the peninsula, and that’s all segments of the market,” she said.
“[In the] Mount Martha and Mount Eliza price points, I think people are finding there’s still a lot of value for money to be had. Similar to where they come from but a bit more of a relaxed lifestyle and quality of life.”
Hanton said the sale was quick and easy. Credit: Simon Schluter
Abode Real Estate director Brad Boyd said the cuts to the Reserve Bank cash rate arrested the peninsula’s price decline.
“It stabilised when interest rates came back down. It’s presenting value, so buyers are coming back into the market. Investors are coming from NSW, because of the dip we’ve had in the past couple of years, there’s good value,” he said.
“Also the first home buyers’ market, up to that $900,000 to $1 million, there’s a lot of young families entering the market.
“If you list anything in the Mornington, Mount Martha and Mount Eliza area in that range, you’ll have multiple offers and first home buyers lining up. It’s that $3 million-plus market we’ve lost because of the holiday home buyers, but that seems to have changed in the past couple of months.”
