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1 AUGUST, 2023
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Mural for all to enjoy A mural that celebrates the Indigenous community in Broadmeadows has been unveiled. The painting, located on the Banksia Gardens housing estate, was a collaborative effort between Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents. Banksia Gardens development co-ordinator Melodie Radatti said the 12-week project demonstrates the amazing things that happen when the community comes together. “It’s a wonderful, thriving community,” she said. “I really see art as a great opportunity for the community to come together, regardless of their skills. “Each week we also had art activities for the younger children. It was just a great, great way for the community to get together.” Ms Radatti said the upcoming referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament was an inspiration for the project. “Our organisation obviously really supports the ‘yes’ vote,” she said. “It all came together in a really timely fashion.” Planning for another multicultural mural is already underway. Artists Lou Cormick, Emma Russell and Natalie Vigo. (Damjan Janevski) 349322_01
Housing data questioned By Harper Sercombe Local real estate agents say the latest house pricing data is not a true indicator of market trends. Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) on July 17 indicate a stark rise in housing prices within the suburb of Whittlesea. The data shows that the median house price jumped from $700,000 in the March quarter to $822,500 in the June quarter, however real estate agent Glenn Halliday, from Exchanged Real Estate, said it is not a true reflection
of the market. “It depends on the style of property being sold and the type of property being sold, I wouldn’t have seen a 17 per cent increase on the ground though,” he said. “The data might be a bit skewed. “I don’t know where they’re getting their data from. “Our [data] portal is actually saying to us that in 2023 we’ve seen an 8.5 per cent decrease in price.” These thoughts were echoed by real estate agent Luke Alboli from YPA. REIV data showed that the median house
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price in Westmeadows dropped from $739,000 to $660,000 across the quarter. However, Mr Albioli said this was not a true depiction of how the market has been moving from what he has seen. “The volume of transactions hasn’t been that high in Westmeadows, for July there’s only been two sales across the whole suburb and then in June there were four,” he said. “It’s not enough data to say ‘hey there’s been a 10 per cent drop’. “Let’s say if there were 20 homes selling per month there’s probably more data to use.”
Rather Mr Albioli said prices have held reasonably strong. “[It] feels as though the market in general has had a correction,” he said. “Some areas may have felt it a lot more severely than others. “If we’re looking at Westmeadows in particular, I don’t think it’s been a severe adjustment.” Although, both suburbs recorded a decrease in housing prices for the last financial year with 2 per cent for Whittlesea and 4.5 per cent for Westmeadows from more than 50 reported sales each.