Richmond, Melbourne Property Report 2025

Suburb background — inner-east, high-amenity and tightly held

Richmond sits just east of the CBD, around 3.5 km from Melbourne’s GPO. The suburb covers roughly 4.4 square kilometres and includes about 20 parks, with close to 4.9% of the land area set aside as open space.

The population grew from around 27,705 residents in 2016 to roughly 28,587 in 2021, an increase of about 3.2% over five years. The dominant age group is 20–29, households are mainly childless couples, and many are repaying more than $4,000 per month on the mortgage, reflecting inner-city pricing and professional incomes.

Owner-occupiers remain in the minority but are gradually edging higher. In 2021, around 43% of homes were owner-occupied, up from roughly 40.8% in 2016. Average length of ownership sits near 13 years, which points to a suburb where people tend to stay once they’ve bought in instead of trading frequently.

How Richmond grew — workers’ cottages, warehouses and renewal

Richmond’s history is shaped by its position between the CBD, the Yarra River and the traditional industrial corridor stretching along the rail lines. Early development brought rows of Victorian workers’ cottages, terrace houses and small factories clustered around Swan Street, Bridge Road and Church Street.

Through the late 20th century and into the 2000s, many of those factories and warehouses were converted into townhouses and apartments, while larger sites along the river and arterial roads moved towards higher-density projects. More recently, pockets such as Cremorne have shifted from pure industrial to tech and creative office space, further lifting demand for nearby housing.

For borrowers, this history shows up in the mix of property types on offer: everything from compact cottages on small lots and renovated terraces, through to warehouse conversions and larger apartment complexes near transport spines. Each behaves differently on price, rent and body corporate outgoings, so it’s worth comparing options carefully.

Location, connections and real-world travel times

Melbourne CBD: Richmond is effectively city-edge. In normal conditions, it’s often a 5–10 minute drive into the CBD via Punt Road, Hoddle Street or Batman Avenue, with travel times stretching at peak periods and on event days around the MCG and sports precinct.

Train: Richmond Station is a major junction for several eastern and south-eastern lines, with additional stations at West Richmond, North Richmond, East Richmond and Burnley. For many residents, the train is the default into the CBD, inner-east employment hubs and major universities.

Tram: Tram routes along Swan Street, Bridge Road and Victoria Street link Richmond with the CBD, Docklands, Hawthorn, Kew and inner-north corridors. Many households combine train and tram depending on workplace location.

Walking and bike: The Main Yarra Trail, local bike lanes and quieter residential streets give practical cycling routes into the CBD, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Hawthorn. A lot of white-collar workers simply walk to nearby offices in Richmond, Cremorne or the sports precinct.

Freeways and arterials: Hoddle Street, the Eastern Freeway and CityLink ramps connect Richmond to the northern, eastern and south-eastern suburbs, while Punt Road and nearby bridges open up access to the bayside corridor.

Schools, colleges and zoning

Richmond is popular with both young professionals and families who want to stay close to the CBD. Government options include local primaries such as Richmond Primary, Yarra Primary and Richmond West, along with Richmond High School and surrounding inner-east secondary colleges. Catholic and independent schools in neighbouring suburbs are often within a short tram or train ride.

As always in Melbourne, zoning and enrolment policies can adjust over time. Before signing a contract, it’s worth checking the Victorian Find my School map and contacting schools directly to confirm the current zone, intake priorities and waitlist settings for the year your children will attend.

Lifestyle, landmarks and everyday amenity

On the ground, Richmond blends older housing stock with busy retail and entertainment strips. Swan Street, Bridge Road and Victoria Street provide supermarkets, hospitality, specialty retail and everyday services, while back streets carry a mix of cafés, small bars and converted warehouse offices.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, AAMI Park and Rod Laver Arena sit just across the river, making Richmond a natural base for people who work in or regularly attend events in the sports and entertainment precinct. The Yarra riverfront paths, local parks and nearby Royal Botanic Gardens add green space to balance the denser housing.

Day-to-day life tends to involve a short walk, tram or train to work, school and shops, plus quick access to freeways and bike paths for weekend trips. That combination of connectivity and amenity is a key part of Richmond’s long-term appeal.

Market and housing in 2025

Across the last 12 months, Richmond’s house market has been trading at typical inner-east Melbourne levels. The overall median house value sits around $1,444,725, with a 12-month median house sale price close to $1,435,000. The lower quartile (25th percentile) is roughly $1,190,000, while the upper quartile (75th percentile) is about $1,845,000, reflecting everything from compact worker’s cottages through to renovated terraces on better-positioned blocks.

On the attached side, apartments and townhouses make up a large share of the suburb. The median unit value is about $637,423, with a 12-month median unit sale price near $615,000. The lower quartile sits around $454,375 and the upper quartile about $952,500, spanning older walk-up flats, warehouse-style conversions and larger complexes along transport and river corridors.

In total, there are roughly 6,788 houses and 9,290 attached dwellings in Richmond. Over the past year, about 250 houses and 396 units were listed for sale, with around 54 houses and 83 units on the market at the time of the report. That’s an active market, but with tight pockets where well-located, renovated stock still draws strong competition.

On the rental side, recent asking rents for houses often range from the mid-to-high $700s per week for smaller two-bedroom homes up to roughly $1,100–$1,500 per week for larger or more modern properties. Units and apartments show one-bedroom asking rents in about the mid-$400s to mid-$500s per week, many two-bedroom options around the $600–$900 range, and three-bedroom apartments commonly advertised around the low-to-mid $1,300s per week. As always, exact yields depend on purchase price, rent achieved and ongoing holding costs.

General information only – not personal advice. Property figures are approximate and accurate as of 19/11/2025; they may change as new data is released.

Finance, deposits and lender appetite

At a $1.45 million purchase price, a 20% deposit is around $290,000 before costs. Once you add VIC stamp duty, conveyancing and a sensible buffer, many Richmond buyers we see are working with somewhere in the high-$200k to low-$300k range in total savings or usable equity for a comfortable 80% LVR structure.

For owner-occupiers, we often compare a straightforward 80% LVR principal-and-interest loan against higher-LVR options that use lender’s mortgage insurance or a guarantor to keep more cash in offset. The right answer depends on your income stability, household plans and risk appetite rather than a single “best” structure.

Investors tend to focus on cash flow, tax settings and future borrowing capacity. Richmond isn’t a pure high-yield play, but rental demand is underpinned by professionals, hospital staff and students who want to live close to the CBD, the MCG precinct and inner-east employment hubs. We look for lenders with sensible rental shading and fair treatment of existing debts so you’re not boxed in when you’re ready for the next purchase.

Nearby suburbs to compare

Most Richmond buyers are also weighing up nearby pockets such as Abbotsford, Cremorne, Collingwood, East Melbourne and parts of Hawthorn and Kew. Each has its own mix of housing stock, price points and school options, but the common thread is strong demand and high amenity close to the CBD and the river.

Some households also run the numbers on bigger moves to places like Ballarat or Geelong for more house and land at a similar budget. When we run a Richmond rate challenge, we’ll often check how your borrowing power and repayments behave across these options so you can see the trade-offs in commute, lifestyle and long-term growth instead of looking at one suburb in isolation.