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LGA · VIC · INNER-NORTH MELBOURNE

City of Darebin

Inner-north LGA anchored by La Trobe's $5B University City of the Future. Roughly 8km from Melbourne CBD.
Inner-North Melbourne Hotspotting refresh: Jun 2026 8km from CBD

Investment thesis

What this LGA is for
Inner-northern Melbourne LGA covering Preston, Reservoir, Northcote, Thornbury, Kingsbury, Bundoora. Population around 155,000. Gross Regional Product $9.95 billion (up from $9.3B prior year). Health Care + Social Assistance is the biggest employer, but construction generates the most output at $2.578 billion. The structural growth story is the $5 billion La Trobe University 'City of the Future' redevelopment, identified by the Victorian Government as the linchpin of the La Trobe National Employment and Innovation Cluster. The 235-hectare Bundoora campus and adjacent La Trobe Private Hospital + Medical Centre are reshaping the demand profile in Bundoora, Kingsbury and Reservoir over the next decade.

Key numbers

Snapshot of the City of Darebin economy and demographics.

Gross Regional Product
$9.95B
Population
155K
Unemployment (Jun 2025)
4.7%
FY2026 Capital Works Program
$38M

Infrastructure pipeline

The committed and in-flight infrastructure spend reshaping the LGA.

$5B
La Trobe University City of the Future
235-hectare Bundoora campus redevelopment. Identified as the linchpin of the La Trobe National Employment and Innovation Cluster.
Major
La Trobe Private Hospital + Medical Centre
Co-located with the university. Major employment node + rental demand source from health workers and students.
$229M
FY2026 Council Budget
Includes $38M capital works allocation.
Major
South Morang train line
Stations at Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Reservoir. Strong commuter spine into CBD.
Major
Tertiary education cluster
La Trobe (26,000 students at Bundoora), RMIT, Northern College of Arts & Technology, Melbourne Polytechnic. Structural unit demand.
Major
Adjacent hospital cluster
Heidelberg hospitals serve Darebin: Mercy Hospital for Women, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg Repatriation.

Suburbs in scope

Suburbs we actively track within City of Darebin. House market data from PropTrack via Hotspotting LGA report (12 months trailing).

SuburbMedian (house)Yield1yr growthVacancyRead
Northcote$1.73M2.70%+8%0.40%Premium gentrified inner-north. Unit yield 4.8%
Thornbury$1.45M3.00%+4%0.50%Established gentrified. Unit median $582K at 4.7%
Preston$1.18M3.30%0%0.80%Mid-band entry, deepest liquidity (388 sales/yr). 10-storey high-density planning in core
Reservoir$950K3.40%+5%0.90%Value end of the LGA, highest sales volume (618/yr). Strong unit market (654 sales)
Kingsbury$863K3.10%+12%0.40%La Trobe adjacency, strong YoY house growth. Unit median $425K at 5.0%

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