Are house prices on a slippery slope?

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• FRIDAY 24/10/25, 8PM | Akmal @ Karralyka Centre

• SATURDAY 25/10/25, 6.45-11.55PM | Oktoberfest @ Temple Society in Bayswater

• SATURDAY 25/10/25, 2PM UNTIL DARK | Orchard Grove Primary School Fiesta & Fireworks

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

“Another hurdle”: How will Yarra Ranges’ proposed erosion overlays impact the housing market?

A local real estate agent has warned the proposed expansion of Yarra Ranges Council’s erosion risk zones could strain homebuyers and builders, as the region grapples with how to protect residents from the ongoing impact of changing weather and climate.

In late June, Yarra Ranges Council received authorisation to prepare the amendment to the council’s Planning Scheme. Finalised and released to the public in August, the proposed changes would mean an additional 2,365 homes would be placed in the risk zones.

If your property falls under an EMO, you must get a geotechnical report before doing any building or earthworks. These reports usually cost between $700 and $3,000+.

Submissions on the proposed amendment close Sunday, October 26.

The first documented landslides on the Dandenong Ranges were in the 1860s, with major landslips like the 1891 Montrose event involving 30,000 cubic metres of earth and rock rushing down the hill at speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour.

New modelling carried out as part of the latest amendment process increased the recorded number of all known landslides within the Yarra Ranges from 167 to more than 1,100.

A July report from the council found the chance of landslides “likely and imminent”.

With almost 40 years working in real estate in the Dandenong Ranges, Bell Real Estate Olinda manager Trevor Bell said the proposed EMOs “belied belief” and were yet another hurdle for people to overcome to build on their land.

A 2025 study by the Housing Industry Association found that red tape and taxes accounted for 43 percent of the total cost of building a new house in Melbourne.

“By the time they finish the process, they’re so emotionally broken that a lot of them don’t proceed to build,” Bell told the Eastern Melburnian.

Bell said the new restrictions could detract from the value of the affected properties, thus cutting supply and driving down demand.

“It cuts down the appetite to live in these high-risk areas,” said Bell.

University of Technology Sydney Associate Professor of Property Economics, Song Shi, told the Eastern Melburnian the impacts on property values brought on by additional costs would be “undoubtedly negative” and would “deter potential buyers”.

“My initial hypothesis…is that the local property market will first depress, then partially recover over time assuming no further bad news (e.g., landslide events) occur in the area,” said Shi.

The impacts of the changing climate on Australia’s housing market are already being felt.

Earlier this year, the ABC reported on a husband and wife who discovered a piece of land they had purchased in Loch Sport was essentially worthless after it was placed within the Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy.

Dramatic photos of houses crumbling away during a landslide in McCrae, on the Mornington Peninsula, made headlines in January, leading to Mornington Peninsula Council proposing changes to EMO controls.

Data from the Climate Council and PropTrack, released this month, found ongoing flooding has devalued Australian homes by $42 billion over two decades.

“A part of living history”: How Boronia Mall’s tenants are bringing new life while keeping vintage feel

As soon as you walk into Boronia Mall you’re transported back to the 1970s – complete with a mosaic wall and old-fashioned tiles.

The shop owners and staff who have worked there for decades, as well as a growing group of younger owners, say they wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

So how do they plan on bringing droves back to the historic shopping centre?

Originally known as Boronia Shoppingtown, the centre opened in September 1973 and featured more than 30 retail outlets in its heyday, with Kmart as its anchor tenant.

Marion Wheatland has been working as a sales assistant at Stevensons Workwear in the mall for about three years, but said her history with the building goes back to when work on the site first began.

“I’ve been in the Boronia area since we came here as a family in 1971,” Wheatland told the Eastern Melburnian. “The Boronia Mall has been the heart of Boronia for a long time. It was really vibrant back in its heyday.”

Australian icons who have graced the mall over the years have included Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Humphrey B. Bear.

Wheatland said the introduction of more large shopping centres like Westfield and Eastland had drawn shoppers away, with Covid also leading to a drop in visitors.

“We’re more of a local shopping centre and we want to try and liven it up again - making the 1970s new again”.

Wheatland has been working with other shop owners to organise events at the mall, with last month’s “Rock Around the Mall” event attracting hundreds of locals to check out a range of vintage cars and market stalls.

A few doors down from Stevensons is Thompsons Coins and Collectables, filled to the brim with a wide array of collectable coins, banknotes and other rare items.

Owner Matthew Thompson opened the store 18 months ago, after being in the industry online for about 13 years.

He took over the site from long-time tenant Vic Di Luzio, a watchmaker and jeweller who was among the first owners of stores inside the mall.

Thompson said while the mall community was small, there was a positive momentum in growth, including a new collectibles store, a second-hand bookstore and a hairdresser set to open soon.

“I think we live in a time where shopping is generally dominated by Westfield and things like that, so to have a small community space where people can come and do things that are a little more unusual, I think there’s a lot of merit to that,” said Thompson.

“This was my local mall and when the opportunity presented itself to expand my business from an online business into a physical store, this was the logical place for me.”

Thompson said he was not interested in seeing the mall receive a major upgrade.

“One of the things I love about the mall is the element of nostalgia,” he said. “I believe this mall is a part of living history.”

How this Monash disability support org is connecting locals to jobs and training

If you’re ever driving through the side streets of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, you might see Andrew Ramage with his protective glasses and ear guards on, hard at work with a whipper snipper or a blower.

The 25-year-old Box Hill South local has been receiving regular work and other social support four days a week for four years, thanks to local not-for-profit and NDIS-accredited employment program Waverley Helpmates.

Launched in 1986, Waverley Helpmates supports 32 locals with intellectual disabilities by providing training and employment opportunities in mowing and other gardening services, cleaning and laundry across more than 600 customers.

Ramage said he loved being outside and working on gardening the most.

“I do like mowing just to be out in the world,” he told the Eastern Melburnian. “I really enjoy it.”

On top of NDIS payments, each Helpmate receives weekly and monthly goals they must achieve on each job to receive a free soft drink or a chocolate bar and other rewards.

Support worker and events/special program co-ordinator Marian Jacobs said working with the organisation for the past six years had been “super rewarding” after working in the corporate sector.

“We make a really good difference to the group,” Jacobs told the Eastern Melburnian. “It gives our Helpmates routine, purpose, friendships, social skills and a place to belong.”

Jacobs said the program helped locals with conditions like autism get out and about in the community.

“All what would happen is [they would] watch TV all day, [leading to] social isolation, depression and anxiety,” said Jacobs.

To donate to the organisation or for more information about how to support the group, click here.

“We need to take the extra step”: Is extra lighting and ambience enough to deter car thieves at Forest Hill Chase?

North-eastern metropolitan MP Nick McGowan has requested Forest Hill Chase install CCTV cameras to deter theft from cars in the shopping centre’s carpark, with recorded offences in Whitehorse increasing by more 40 percent in the last financial year.

According to the Crime Statistics Agency, theft from a motor vehicle was the leading offence in Whitehorse for the year ending June 2025, with 2,583 incidents recorded - up from 1,881 the previous year.

Forest Hill Chase management told the Eastern Melburnian the shopping strip’s team was carrying out “significant investment in upgrades and improvements” while also collaborating with Victoria Police and Neighbourhood Watch to protect shoppers and their vehicles.

“Recent enhancements include ambience, lighting, carpark and entrance upgrades,” the spokesperson said.

North-eastern metropolitan MP Nick McGowan told the Eastern Melburnian he has met with Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre management and sent a letter to the centre owners to emphasise the need for greater CCTV coverage in “strategic locations”.

“I think it's time for Forest Hill to seriously look at more CCTV cameras,” said McGowan. “We need to take the extra step and go forward to make sure that their customers can continue to have the sense of confidence when they go and shop there and park there.”

Senior Sergeant Ashley Riley said Victoria Police has arrested 661 burglars and car thieves 1,700 times in the 12 months to the end of July 2025.

“Victoria Police has a huge success rate in recovering stolen vehicles, returning around 95 percent to rightful owners across key vehicle theft hotspots in Melbourne – including Whitehorse last year,” Riley told the Eastern Melburnian.

SEEN THIS WEEK 🤓

Mitcham Rotary Op Shop set to rise from the ashes

The Rotary Club of Mitcham Op Shop was gutted by fire in April, with a lithium battery in a children’s toy suspected to be the cause.

Volunteers have banded together over recent months to work on cleaning up the damage towards reopening the store before Christmas.

Contributor Tyler Wright spoke with club secretary Ron Frederick about the recovery process.

Watch the video below.