Alfredton, Ballarat Property Report 2025

Suburb background — Ballarat’s west-side family hub

Alfredton sits on the western side of Ballarat, roughly 4 km from the CBD, and has become the city’s most populated suburb. It covers around 7.9 square kilometres and has 11 parks covering nearly 12.3% of the total area — a big part of its family appeal.

Population has grown strongly, from just over 9,200 residents in 2016 to about 11,800 in 2021 (around 28% growth). Households are mostly couples with children, with many owner-occupiers repaying mid-range mortgages each month. That combination of space, parks and schools keeps Alfredton on the shortlist for Ballarat locals and Melbourne buyers alike.

On the housing side, there’s a clear split between established streets closer to Sturt Street and Victoria Park, and newer estates pushing toward Lucas and Delacombe. The newer builds lift the overall dwelling count and keep supply flowing, but the established pockets hold their value thanks to proximity to parks, Lake Wendouree and central Ballarat.

How Alfredton grew — from Avenue of Honour to new estates

Originally part of Cardigan, the area was renamed Alfredton after Prince Alfred’s visit in 1867. Today it’s known for the Arch of Victory and the Avenue of Honour — Australia’s longest war memorial roadside plantation, running around 18 km along the Western Highway.

The early suburb clustered around Sturt Street and the golf course. Over time, development pushed west and south, with estates like Insignia and newer greenfield releases shaping the current streetscape. From a borrower’s point of view, that means a mix of older brick homes on larger blocks, premium golf-course and lakeside addresses, and newer four-bedroom family houses in master-planned estates.

Because Alfredton is central to Ballarat’s western growth corridor, most of the city’s new-home activity in recent years has happened either here or immediately next door. That steady pipeline of construction gives buyers more choice than in tightly held inner suburbs, but premium pockets can still move quickly when they come up.

Location, connections and real-world travel times

Ballarat CBD: roughly 4–8 minutes by car along Sturt Street in normal traffic, depending on which side of Alfredton you’re in.

Melbourne CBD: around 110–115 km via the Western Freeway. On a good run, allow about 75–90 minutes by car. Many commuters park at Ballarat or Wendouree station and take V/Line trains to Southern Cross instead of driving the full distance.

Rail: Wendouree station is roughly 3 km north of Alfredton and is the closest heavy-rail option, with regular services to Melbourne and Ararat. Ballarat station in the CBD is the other key hub.

Local buses: Routes such as the 10 and 26 run between Ballarat Station and Alfredton via Gillies Street and Sturt Street, looping through key residential streets. Day-to-day, most locals combine buses with driving or cycling.

Schools, colleges and zoning

Alfredton is firmly in family territory. Within or very close to the suburb you’ll find Alfredton Primary School, St Thomas More School and several kindergartens, with high-school options nearby in Wendouree and central Ballarat. Ballarat High School and other secondary colleges are within a practical bus or car trip, which keeps school runs manageable.

Because Ballarat’s school network mixes government, Catholic and independent options, zoning and enrolment rules can shift as demand moves. Before signing a contract, we always suggest checking Find my School and calling the school directly so you know exactly which intake area the property sits in and what the current enrolment policies look like.

Lifestyle, landmarks and everyday amenity

On the ground, Alfredton balances established parks and golf fairways with new estates and local shopping. The suburb is home to the Ballarat Golf Club on Sturt Street, the Alfredton Recreation Reserve and R.J. Cameron Reserve, plus a growing network of walking and cycling trails that link through to Lucas and Lake Gardens.

Victoria Park, the Ballarat Botanical Gardens and Lake Wendouree are a short drive or ride away, giving you large-scale green space, sports grounds and lakefront paths. Many residents use the old rail reservation as a walking and cycling route through the suburb.

For day-to-day shopping you’re well covered: multiple supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths and ALDI) are within a short drive in Alfredton, Lucas or Delacombe, backed by local cafés, bakeries, takeaways and pubs. The CBD and Bridge Mall remain the go-to for bigger retail trips.

If you’re coming from Melbourne, Alfredton offers a “Ballarat proper” lifestyle — local sport, schools, lake, parks and an easy CBD run — without having to push too far out into the fringe estates.

Market and housing in 2025

Across the last 12 months, Alfredton’s median house price has sat around $610,000, with an indicative weekly median house rent near $460 and a gross rental yield close to 3.8–3.9%. Units sit around a $406,000 median, with indicative rents near $380 per week and yields just above 5%.

Sales activity has been healthy, with more than 300 house sales and a couple of dozen unit sales in a year. Typical days on market are in the low-40s for houses and around the mid-30s for units, which is quick enough to keep sellers confident but still gives buyers time to complete finance properly when contracts are written cleanly.

Finance, deposits and lender appetite

At a $650,000 purchase price, a 10% deposit is $65,000. Once you add VIC stamp duty, legals and a sensible buffer, many Alfredton buyers we see are working with somewhere between $90,000 and $130,000 in total savings or equity for a comfortable structure. Smaller deposits are possible, especially for first-home buyers using schemes or guarantors, but lender choice and LMI pricing matter more in those brackets.

For owner-occupiers, we often compare several options: a straight principal-and-interest loan near 80% LVR, a slightly higher LVR with LMI but more cash kept in reserve, or a split-loan structure with an offset against future renovations or upgrades. The right choice depends on your job security, future plans and how quickly you want to reduce debt.

Investors tend to focus on cash-flow and future borrowing capacity. Alfredton isn’t a high-yield niche, but vacancy is typically tight and tenant demand is steady. We look for lenders with sensible rental shading, fair treatment of existing debts and policies that keep your borrowing power alive for the next purchase, not just this one.

Nearby suburbs to compare

Most Alfredton buyers are also looking at neighbouring suburbs such as Lucas and Delacombe (for newer estates and shopping), Newington (closer to Victoria Park and the CBD) and Lake Gardens or Wendouree (for lake access and rail). Those areas can shift price points and commute patterns, so it’s worth lining up a few suburb reports and comparing them side-by-side with the same borrowing assumptions.

When we run an Alfredton rate challenge, we’ll normally check how the same budget behaves in these nearby suburbs as well. Sometimes the right answer is Alfredton; other times a slightly different pocket of Ballarat gives you a better mix of commute, school zoning and future growth.