Buyers Agent Melbourne | Investment Property Specialists

Investment Property Specialists

Postcode 3199 at Frankston read 1.11% vacancy in August 2026, while Craigieburn's 3064 read 3.67% and Melton South's 3338 read 4.64%. You do not buy a city-wide average. You buy one postcode. The eight we read run right across that range. Adelaide's northern postcodes run 0.52% to 0.92% and Perth sits at 0.61%. Even Melbourne's tightest corridor is looser than both. That is what the discount costs. Melbourne's median is down 3.9% over five years while every other mainland capital rose.

Australian Property Experts buys investment property and nothing else, and is paid by no developer and no selling agent. Peter Ly founded the business, holds 17+ properties in his own name, and has completed 300+ client purchases around Australia. The city-level numbers behind this page sit in our Melbourne property market update for 2026.

Melbourne CBD skyline seen across the trees of Yarra Bend Park on a clear day — The Melbourne CBD skyline from Yarra Bend Park. Photo: -wuppertaler, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Why Use a Melbourne Buyers Agent?

Melbourne is the only mainland capital where the last five years took values backwards. Its median dwelling value was $786,718 at 31 August 2026. You are buying at a discount to the rest of the country. What you take on in exchange is a rental market looser than Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth. The corridor sets how much of it.

Five parts of a Melbourne purchase that turn on corridor-level work:

The Discount Has a Rental Cost

Postcode 3199 at Frankston read 1.11% in August 2026, the tightest of the eight we read. It is still looser than Perth's 0.61% city-wide. Melton South's 3338 read 4.64%, Craigieburn's 3064 3.67% and the CBD 3.65%, the three loosest of the eight. Dandenong's 3175 sat at 1.31%, Pakenham's 3810 at 1.41%, Werribee's 3030 at 1.74% and Melton's 3337 at 2.68%. Picking the corridor is picking where in that range you sit.

Yield Sits in a 0.49 Point Band

The twelve house markets we measured run from 3.63% at Frankston to 4.12% at Pakenham. The whole band is 0.49 of a percentage point wide. Medians across those same twelve run $565,000 to $860,000. Neither figure spreads far across the city. So neither one is what the corridor decision turns on.

Melbourne Returns 4.0% Gross

Melbourne returns 4.0% gross at city level, the best yield of the major capitals. That reading is an average across houses and units. The twelve house markets we measured sit between 3.63% and 4.12%.

The Weekends You Get Back

Many of the investors who come to us for Melbourne are buying from another state. Few of them want to spend Saturdays driving between Melton and Pakenham. We attend the inspections, run the due diligence, negotiate and coordinate settlement. You see every figure we see, and your Saturdays stay yours.

No Developer Pays Us Anything

No developer, project marketer or selling agent puts a dollar our way, so your fee is the only income on the purchase. That matters in a state where dwelling approvals over the twelve months to July 2026 ran 11% below the ten-year average. When less is being built, project marketers compete harder for the buyers who are around. An agent paid by the seller has a reason to steer you into that stock. We are not paid by them, so we do not.

Melbourne Corridors We Buy In

We measured twelve house markets across the western, northern and south-eastern corridors. The six carded below are the ones we would put to a client first. Every yield here is our own arithmetic. We take the weekly rent to 52 weeks and set it over the median, so each card's three figures agree. Where a published yield looks stronger than ours, the usual reason is a median and a rent read months apart. Our list of the best suburbs to invest in Melbourne goes wider. Our comparison of capital growth and rental yield covers the trade.

Bar chart of residential vacancy by Melbourne postcode in August 2026: 3199 Frankston 1.11%, 3175 Dandenong 1.31%, 3810 Pakenham 1.41%, 3030 Werribee 1.74%, 3337 Melton 2.68%, 3064 Craigieburn 3.67% and 3338 Melton South 4.64%. — Vacancy runs from 1.11% in Frankston's postcode to 4.64% in Melton South. Source: SQM Research, August 2026.

Melton - Lowest Entry, Best Growth

The lowest median of the twelve markets measured. It also has the strongest twelve months and the strongest five-year average of those twelve. Its postcode is the fifth tightest of the eight here.

Median house: $565,000
Gross yield: 3.77% at $410/wk
12-month growth: +16.49%
Five-year average: 6.11% a year
Sales: 177, selling in 22 days
Vacancy: 2.68% in postcode 3337, from 3.13%

Melton South - Second on Five Years

The second strongest five-year average of the twelve markets measured, behind Melton. It sits next door in postcode 3338, the loosest of the eight here. It rents for $20 a week more.

Median house: $586,500
Gross yield: 3.81% at $430/wk
12-month growth: +10.66%
Five-year average: 5.92% a year
Sales: 308, selling in 27 days
Vacancy: 4.64% in postcode 3338, from 5.49%

Werribee - Depth in the West

1,056 sales over the year, the most of the twelve markets measured. Its 3.70% is the second weakest of those twelve yields.

Median house: $660,000
Gross yield: 3.70% at $470/wk
12-month growth: +6.97%
Five-year average: 4.10% a year
Sales: 1,056, selling in 27 days
Vacancy: 1.74% in postcode 3030, from 1.90%

Pakenham - Best Paying, Fastest

The best computed yield of the twelve markets measured. It sits behind the third tightest of the eight postcodes here, and it is the fastest to clear, at 14 days.

Median house: $720,000
Gross yield: 4.12% at $570/wk
12-month growth: +7.46%
Five-year average: 4.95% a year
Sales: 980, selling in 14 days
Vacancy: 1.41% in postcode 3810, from 0.82%

Craigieburn - Loose, Slowest

Second for sales of the twelve markets measured. It stands behind the second loosest of the eight postcode readings. It is also the slowest of the six cards to sell.

Median house: $723,000
Gross yield: 3.96% at $550/wk
12-month growth: +6.32%
Five-year average: 4.29% a year
Sales: 1,033, selling in 30 days
Vacancy: 3.67% in postcode 3064, from 3.52%

Frankston - Dearest, Tightest

The highest median of the twelve measured and the weakest computed yield of those twelve. Its postcode is the tightest of the eight here. Its twelve months rank second among the cards.

Median house: $860,000
Gross yield: 3.63% at $600/wk
12-month growth: +13.16%
Five-year average: 4.96% a year
Sales: 611, selling in 15 days
Vacancy: 1.11% in postcode 3199, from 1.05%
More: our Frankston page

Reading Vacancy by Postcode

August 2026 against the reading four months earlier, in April. Four of the eight eased and four went the other way.

3199 Frankston: 1.11%, from 1.05%
3175 Dandenong: 1.31%, from 1.81%
3810 Pakenham: 1.41%, from 0.82%
3030 Werribee: 1.74%, from 1.90%
3337 Melton: 2.68%, from 3.13%
3000 Melbourne CBD: 3.65%, from 2.89%
3064 Craigieburn: 3.67%, from 3.52%
3338 Melton South: 4.64%, from 5.49%

The Other Six We Measured

Computed the same way. None breaks out of the yield range the carded six already sit in.

Sunbury: $720,000 at $550/wk is 3.97%
Cranbourne: $723,500 at $550/wk is 3.95%
Broadmeadows: $660,000 at $500/wk is 3.94%
Wyndham Vale: $610,000 at $450/wk is 3.84%
Dandenong: $780,000 at $570/wk is 3.80%
Deer Park: $700,000 at $500/wk is 3.71%

Dandenong Units Pay 5.15%

The strongest unit reading of the twelve measured.

Median unit: $494,500
Gross yield: 5.15% at $490/wk, before body corporate
Next two: Craigieburn 5.08%, Broadmeadows 5.02%
Behind it: 1.31% vacancy in postcode 3175
Houses there: 3.80% on a $780,000 median

Units out-yield houses in all twelve suburbs measured. We would still open most briefs on houses. The extra return goes straight back out in body corporate fees. It also comes with less land and a tenant pool that moves more often.

What We Pass On Here

Anything priced as though these corridors are about to run at double digits. Melbourne values fell 4.7% over the year to August. Off-the-plan stock, anything through a project marketer, and any corridor chosen on yield alone.

We buy established stock only, tested on tenant demand that lasts and a price with room left in it.

How It Works

Our Melbourne Buyers Agency Process

Our buyers agent Melbourne process runs six steps, in the same order on a $565,000 Melton house as on an $860,000 Frankston one.

Free 15-Minute Call

We go through your goals, what the bank will lend, your timeline and the risk you are comfortable carrying. If Melbourne is not right for what you want, that is the call where we say it.

Strategy Session and Market Analysis

After you engage us we set the structure, the budget and the objectives. Then we read them against the corridors, postcode by postcode. Melton at $565,000 behind 2.68% vacancy and Pakenham at $720,000 behind 1.41% carry different risk.

Property Search (On and Off-Market)

We work the public listings alongside our off-market network across Melbourne and regional Victoria. A typical brief produces a shortlist of three to five candidates in two to four weeks.

Due Diligence and Property Reports

Everything on the shortlist gets full due diligence, which means building and pest inspections, comparable sales analysis, and rental appraisals. The rental appraisal then gets read next to the vacancy in that postcode. A corridor at 1.11% will hold a rent that a corridor at 3.67% will not.

Negotiation and Offer

We negotiate off comparable sales rather than the quoted range. With Melbourne values down 4.7% over the year to August, we will not pay a price that has assumed a quick rebound.

Contract to Settlement

From acceptance we hold your conveyancer, mortgage broker and property manager to one set of dates. What you end up with is keys and a tenant under lease.

Typical timeline: 6 to 12 weeks from engagement through to settlement. Finance approval and the wait for the right property take up most of that.

Who Uses Our Melbourne Service?

Investors Priced Out Elsewhere

Sydney's median dwelling value is $1,222,718 and Brisbane's is $1,080,142 against Melbourne's $786,718. That is why a lot of first calls land here.

Buyers Keeping the Entry Low

Melton's $565,000 is the lowest entry we card. Behind it sits a 2.68% postcode, and that is the trade.

Time-Poor Professionals

You earn enough to buy but the week is already full. Searching, inspecting and negotiating sit on our side. The weekends come back to you.

Interstate and Overseas Investors

Buying Victoria from another state means somebody else standing in the property for you. Our guide to buying interstate covers it.

SMSF and Trust Buyers

A Self-Managed Super Fund or family trust purchase needs the structure settled before contracts move. Victoria has its own bare trust requirements, timed against the contract dates. Since 10 August 2026 an SMSF can no longer borrow to buy residential property, so a fund purchase now has to come from the balance you already hold.

First-Time Investors

A 1.11% postcode and a 3.67% one look identical in a listing photo. You will see what we ruled out and why, not only what we put forward.

Your Buyers Agent

Meet Peter Ly

Founder and Principal Buyers Agent

Peter spent the best part of a decade in banking and finance before founding Australian Property Experts. He still works a number back to its source before he uses it.

17+ investment properties held in his own name across several states

300+ client purchases completed around Australia

Close to a decade in banking and finance before founding the business

Never paid by developers or selling agents

Peter does not put a property to a client that he would not hold himself. His own portfolio spans houses, townhouses and units in several states, held through a full cycle. His guidance comes from that portfolio.

Peter's Read on Melbourne in 2026

Peter's view is that Melbourne is the one mainland capital the last five years did not reprice, which is what puts it on the shortlist. He treats the discount as real and the reason for it as real too. Pakenham at $720,000 behind 1.41% and Craigieburn at $723,000 behind 3.67% cost almost the same. They are not the same purchase.

His caution is the rental market and the pace of what follows. Four of the eight postcodes rose over four months. Pakenham went from 0.82% to 1.41%, the CBD from 2.89% to 3.65%, Craigieburn from 3.52% to 3.67% and Frankston from 1.05% to 1.11%. In proportional terms, Pakenham's rise is the sharpest of the four.

Five-year averages in these corridors run 2.87% to 6.11% a year. Melbourne values fell 1.1% in August alone. The suburb growth above runs only to 30 June 2026, and values nationally have been going backwards since March.

Based in Sydney, buying Australia-wide. We work with Melbourne investors remotely, with inspections attended on the ground.

Buyers Agent Melbourne Fees

Melbourne's median dwelling value was $786,718 at 31 August 2026. A 2% fee on it is $15,734 plus GST. Melbourne buyers agents usually price at 1.2% to 2.75% plus GST. On that median, the band runs from $9,441 at the bottom to $21,635 at the top. That is more than double from one end of the band to the other, for the same job on the same property.

We charge one fixed fee instead. It is agreed before we start and it follows the scope of the work. The price you pay for the property does not move it. None of it is a percentage. No developer, project marketer or selling agent pays us a commission. The fee covers the strategy session, the search across on-market and off-market stock, inspections attended for you, full due diligence coordination, negotiation, and settlement coordination.

A percentage moves with the purchase price, so the person negotiating for you is paid more the more you pay. A fixed number cannot.

Outside the fee sit the third-party costs, mainly building and pest, your conveyancer and your mortgage broker. Our buyers agent fees guide runs the same maths for every capital.

What a Percentage Costs in Melbourne

Melbourne median dwelling value: $786,718 at 31 August 2026, the lowest of the five mainland state capitals
A 2% fee on that median: $15,734 plus GST
Bottom of the Melbourne band, 1.2%: $9,441 plus GST
Top of the Melbourne band, 2.75%: $21,635 plus GST
What we charge instead: one flat fee, no percentage, no developer commissions

Three questions worth putting to any Melbourne buyers agent before you sign. Is the fee a percentage or a fixed number? What happens to it if the price moves up? Does anyone other than you pay them on this deal?

Two more checks are worth making on any buyers agent Melbourne investors shortlist. Confirm state licensing. A buyers agent has to be licensed in each state where they buy, and Victoria is its own jurisdiction. Confirm professional indemnity cover as well. REBAA membership is a reasonable baseline on both counts.

Standard Investment Property

Strategy session, on-market and off-market search, due diligence, negotiation and settlement coordination for one residential purchase in Melbourne or regional Victoria.

Complex Purchases

SMSF, family trusts, company structures, or a property needing subdivision analysis. The fee accounts for the extra due diligence.

Portfolio Purchases

Two to five or more purchases attracts volume pricing, ordered so the borrowing from one purchase supports the next.

What's included in our fee

Personalised strategy session
Suburb and postcode-level market analysis
Off-market search across Melbourne and regional Victoria
Inspections attended for you
Building and pest inspections booked and reviewed
Full due diligence coordination
Rental appraisal and cash flow modelling
Negotiation and offer management
Contract review coordination
Settlement support and a property manager introduction

Not included

Building and pest inspection fees, billed to you directly
Conveyancing and legal fees, billed to you directly
Mortgage broker fees, invoiced to you by the broker

A flat fee also means the number does not move if the right property is Frankston at $860,000 rather than Melton at $565,000. Our case studies show what clients have bought.

Melbourne vs the Other Capitals

Investors shortlisting Melbourne usually have Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide on the same page.

Where Melbourne Wins

Lowest median of the five mainland state capitals: $786,718 at 31 August 2026
Best gross yield of the major capitals: 4.0% at city level
Frankston holds its tenants: postcode 3199 read 1.11% in August 2026, the tightest of the eight, and Pakenham's 3810 read 1.41% behind the best yield of the twelve
Four of the eight postcodes eased over four months: Dandenong, Werribee, Melton and Melton South all read lower in August than in April
The discount reaches the entry point: Melton's $565,000 is the lowest median of the twelve measured, and it grew 16.49% over the year
Supply is not keeping pace: Victorian dwelling approvals over the twelve months to July 2026 ran 11% below the ten-year average
There is depth: Werribee recorded 1,056 sales and Craigieburn 1,033, the two highest of the twelve

What to Weigh Up

Melton South read 4.64%: with Craigieburn at 3.67% and the CBD at 3.65%, the three loosest of the eight here
Four of the eight postcodes rose: Pakenham from 0.82% to 1.41%, the CBD from 2.89% to 3.65%, Craigieburn from 3.52% to 3.67% and Frankston from 1.05% to 1.11%
No house corridor clears 4.12%: Pakenham is the best of the twelve measured, Frankston the weakest at 3.63%
Melbourne is down 3.9% over five years: every other mainland capital rose over the same stretch
Five-year growth runs 2.87% to 6.11% a year: Adelaide's northern suburbs did 20% to 28% a year over the same five
Suburb growth stops at 30 June 2026: nothing after that date shows above, and Melbourne values fell 3.9% over the three months to August
Frankston is the dearest of the six carded: $860,000, the weakest yield of the twelve measured at 3.63%, though its 3199 postcode is the tightest of the eight at 1.11%

How the Capitals Compare on Price

vs Adelaide at $937,207: dearer to enter, and its northern suburbs did 20% to 28% a year, so that run is already in the price
vs Perth at $999,987: vacancy of 0.61% against Craigieburn's 3.67%, on a median well above Melbourne's
vs Brisbane at $1,080,142 and Sydney at $1,222,718: both above a million, so the same deposit buys less
Inside Victoria: we also buy in Geelong and Frankston

How We Handle Melbourne Numbers

Every suburb yield here is computed by us. Each one can be checked against the two figures beside it. The 4.0% gross figure is a Melbourne-wide reading across houses and units. Only Pakenham of the twelve house markets computes above it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a buyers agent? +

A buyers agent works under a licence to find a property, assess it and negotiate it for the person buying. The agent listing the house is engaged by the seller and paid to push the price up. We are engaged by you. Every part of the job runs the other way.

How long does it take to buy an investment property? +

Count on 6 to 12 weeks from engagement to settlement. Two to four of those weeks usually go on the search. Finance approval plus the settlement period take up the rest. A property already sitting in our off-market network pulls the date forward. An SMSF or trust purchase pushes it back.

Do you buy owner-occupier homes as well? +

No. Established investment properties are the only thing we buy. Each one is judged on whether tenants want it, how far the rent goes against the holding cost, and how much growth is left in the price. Whether you would enjoy living in it never enters the assessment.

How much does a buyers agent cost in Melbourne? +

Melbourne's median dwelling value was $786,718 at 31 August 2026, so a 2% fee on it is $15,734 plus GST. The 1.2% to 2.75% band Melbourne agents quote runs from $9,441 to $21,635 plus GST on that same median. We charge none of it as a percentage. Our fee is one fixed number, agreed before we start and set by the scope of the work. What you pay for the property does not change it. Developers, project marketers and selling agents pay us nothing. The fee buys the strategy session, the search across on-market and off-market stock, inspections attended for you, full due diligence coordination, negotiation and settlement coordination. Outside the fee sit the third-party costs, mainly building and pest, your conveyancer and your mortgage broker.

What's the difference between a buyers agent and a buyers advocate? +

There is no difference in the work. Advocate is the word Victoria uses and agent is the word used elsewhere, so the two describe the same licensed job. Quotes from a Melbourne buyers advocate and a Melbourne buyers agent compare directly. Anyone pricing on a percentage will quote 1.2% to 2.75% plus GST, which is $9,441 to $21,635 on Melbourne's $786,718 median. Either way, what matters is the basis under the number rather than the word on the letterhead.

Which Melbourne suburb should I buy in? +

Yield will not settle it. The twelve house markets we measured return between 3.63% and 4.12% computed, on medians from $565,000 to $860,000, so vacancy is what separates them. Pakenham at $720,000 pays 4.12% and sits in postcode 3810, which read 1.41% in August 2026. Craigieburn at $723,000 pays 3.96% at almost the same price. Its postcode 3064 read 3.67%. Melton is the lowest entry at $565,000, behind a 2.68% postcode. Frankston is the dearest of the six we card at $860,000 and pays the weakest yield at 3.63%. It sits behind a 3199 reading of 1.11%, the tightest of the eight we read. Growth figures stop at 30 June 2026.

Data sources: medians, twelve-month growth, five-year averages, sales counts and days on market come from CoreLogic to 30 June 2026, via Your Investment Property. Those figures were pulled on 26 September 2026. Rents are weekly figures to 31 August 2026. We calculate each suburb yield ourselves, dividing weekly rent times 52 by the median price, and we do not repeat published yields. Postcode vacancy is SQM Research for August 2026 across eight postcodes, each set against its April 2026 reading. Perth's city-wide vacancy and Adelaide's northern postcodes (5108, 5112 and 5113) are SQM Research for August 2026 too, and the Adelaide five-year averages are CoreLogic via Your Investment Property. Melbourne's median dwelling value, its gross yield and its five-year change, plus the other capital medians, are Cotality Home Value Index readings at 31 August 2026. Victorian dwelling approvals are ABS Building Approvals (original series) for the twelve months to July 2026, set against the average of the ten twelve-month periods before it.

Buyers Agent Melbourne forInvestment Property