Melbourne has a median house price of $706,000 and apartment price of $545,500, but there are still many affordable properties available in the inner north and south of the city. “Affordable property around Melbourne is not restricted to the outer suburbs," says REIV Chief Executive Officer, Enzo Raimondo. "Apartments allow first home buyers to get a foothold on the property ladder, especially in highly sought after areas such as Carlton."

Melbourne’s most affordable one-bedroom apartments are located in Carlton, which according to the latest REIV data, recorded a June median price of just $207,750. Carnegie in the south-east delivered a median for similar sized apartments of just $292,500. Other suburbs to rank highly included Elwood and St Kilda, with one bedroom median prices of $389,000 and $390,000 respectively.

Raimondo said that buyers with budgets in the $400,000 range are able to broaden their search – not only geographically but also by considering two-bedroom options. In the city’s west, the suburbs of Footscray and Maribyrnong recorded median prices for two-bedroom apartments in the most recent quarter of $408,000 and $410,000 respectively - well below the Melbourne inner suburban median price for these apartments, of $555,000.

"These suburbs offer proximity to the CBD and bayside, and have seen solid capital gains in recent years," said Raimondo.

Glenroy, located 13km from the CBD, recorded the city’s lowest three-bedroom apartment median price - just $465,000 in the June quarter. Two-bedroom apartments in the area are also affordable with a median price of $375,000.

Toorak had Melbourne’s highest median for two and three-bedroom apartments, $770,000 and $1.5 million respectively. Other top apartment suburbs include Brighton, Richmond, South Yarra and Docklands.