Melbourne bayside ยท VIC 3190
Buyers agent in Highett
The sensible end of bayside. Cheaper than its neighbours and it has grown faster than them.
Figures below are July 2026, suburb level, all bedroom counts. Full Kingston council report.
The Highett numbers
Houses
$1,340,768
Typical price
$828
Weekly rent
3.21%
Gross yield
+2.0%
Growth a year, 10yr
+5.2%
Growth, last 12mth
138
Sales a year
Units
$707,074
Typical price
$618
Weekly rent
4.54%
Gross yield
+2.2%
Growth a year, 10yr
+1.5%
Growth, last 12mth
183
Sales a year
Vacancy rate 1.24% across roughly 7,038 dwellings. HtAG Analytics, suburb level, all bedroom counts. Typical price is a modelled estimate, not a median of recent sales.
The honest read
What I'd tell you over a coffee
Highett does 2.0% a year over the decade with a typical house near $1.34m. Compare that to Sandringham two suburbs over at 1.1% and $1.98m, or Black Rock at 1.6% and $2.16m.
Same stretch of Melbourne. Highett costs about two thirds as much and has grown faster than both. That's the trade people keep declining to make because Sandringham sounds better.
The last twelve months came in at 5.2%, off a soft three year average of 0.8%, so some of that is catch up rather than a new trend.
Vacancy sits at 1.2% and the yield is 3.2%, which for bayside Melbourne is about as good as it gets. Not good in absolute terms. Good for the postcode.
Who Highett suits
Buyers who want bayside proximity without the bayside premium, and are comfortable that the suburb name does less work at dinner parties.
What I'd watch
138 house sales a year across 7,038 dwellings is fairly thin turnover. In a quiet market that can mean waiting for the right stock rather than picking from a shelf.
How I work
- Flat $20,000 fee, whatever you buy and wherever it is
- No commissions from agents, developers or builders
- I'll tell you when a suburb doesn't stack up, including this one
Fair questions
Buying in Highett, answered
Is Highett better value than Sandringham?
On these numbers, yes. Highett is about $644,000 cheaper for a typical house and has grown 2.0% a year over the decade against Sandringham's 1.1%. Same council, same bay. You're paying a large premium for the Sandringham name and getting slower growth for it.
What does a house in Highett cost?
Around $1.34m as at July 2026, renting near $828 a week on a 3.2% gross yield. Vacancy is 1.2%.
Other Melbourne suburbs
Same treatment, same data, different answer in every one of them.