Houses for sale in Williamstown, Melbourne typically trade around a median of $1.57 million as of mid-2026, after about 178 house sales in the past 12 months. That buys you a bayside suburb roughly 9–11km southwest of the CBD with a heritage waterfront, three train stations, and the kind of price floor that comes from low supply rather than hype. If you’re a buyer comparing the inner west, this is the premium end of it — and you should know exactly what the premium pays for before you turn up to an auction.
This guide is for people actually shopping: families weighing Williamstown against Newport or Yarraville, downsizers eyeing a unit near the beach, and investors doing the yield maths before they commit a seven-figure deposit. Below is what the market looks like right now, what your budget buys, and where the value sits.
What houses actually cost in Williamstown in 2026
The headline number depends on which dataset you trust, and they don’t all agree — so here’s the spread rather than a single tidy figure:
- The REIV recorded a $1,600,000 median house price for the June 2025 quarter.
- More recent portal data puts the median house price at roughly $1,566,000–$1,577,500 in mid-2026.
- One source logged annual growth of around +8.0%, while another flagged a slight -1.28% dip on a 12-month sale-price basis.
Translation: the market is broadly flat-to-firm, not booming. Williamstown isn’t a suburb where you’ll catch a falling price or a runaway one. It’s tightly held — the typical hold period runs past 12 years, stock-on-market is thin, and inventory has been sitting near two months. That scarcity is the whole story. When fewer than 200 houses change hands a year in a suburb this desirable, prices stay propped up even when the broader Melbourne market wobbles.
Houses also sit on the market a while before they sell — around 69 days on average. That’s slower than the frenzied inner-north, and it’s leverage for a patient buyer. A home that’s been listed for six weeks is a home where the vendor’s expectations are softening.
What your budget buys
Roughly speaking, here’s the ladder in 2026:
- Under $800k: a two-bedroom unit or a compact older flat, often a little back from the water. A 2-bedroom house sold for $750,000 on 20 June 2026; a 2-bedroom unit went for $565,000 the same day.
- $1.1M–$1.2M: a modest two- or three-bedroom house. A 2-bedroom house fetched $1,120,000 and a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home on 424m² sold for $1,150,000 in June 2026.
- $1.4M+: a renovated three-bedroom period home or something closer to Nelson Place and the foreshore. A 3-bedroom auction result hit $1,400,000 in February 2026.
- $2M and up: the genuine waterfront and the big Victorian/Edwardian family homes on the prized streets. This is where the “typical” valuation figures north of $1.9M come from.
Units are the affordability release valve here. The unit market opens at roughly half the house median, which is why downsizers and first-buyers priced out of a freestanding house increasingly land on a two-bedder near Williamstown Beach station.
Where to look — and what each pocket trades on
Williamstown isn’t one market; it’s several. Knowing which pocket you’re buying in matters more than the suburb-wide median.
The Nelson Place / foreshore strip. This is the postcard: the heritage waterfront running along Hobsons Bay, with cafes, restaurants, the Timeball/Williamstown Lighthouse (built 1849–50), and HMAS Castlemaine moored at Gem Pier. Homes within a short walk of the water carry the steepest premium in the suburb. You’re paying for views across Port Phillip Bay to the city skyline and for the fact that almost nobody sells.
Around Williamstown Beach. The middle ground. You get the swimming beach, the Williamstown Beach train station, and a slightly calmer price than the absolute waterfront. Families chasing both lifestyle and a 30-minute run to Flinders Street tend to converge here.
North Williamstown / toward Newport. This is where the value hunters should start. Closer to the North Williamstown station and the Newport border, you can still buy into the suburb’s school zones and transport without paying full foreshore freight. If your budget tops out around the median, this pocket gives you the most house per dollar.
The Newport comparison. Be honest with yourself about whether you need the Williamstown name. Neighbouring Newport offers similar period housing and the same train line at a lower entry price. Plenty of buyers who start in Williamstown end up one suburb inland and don’t regret it.
The buyer’s reality check
A few things the glossy listings won’t tell you:
- Transport is good but linear. Williamstown sits at the end of its own train line — three stations (Williamstown, Williamstown Beach, North Williamstown), about 30 minutes to the CBD by rail, or roughly 15 minutes by car via the West Gate Freeway when the bridge behaves. The West Gate is the choke point; factor your commute around it, not around the off-peak drive time.
- It’s a couples-with-children suburb. The dominant household type is families, the predominant age bracket skews 50–59, and the median household income sat around $2,408 a week at the 2021 Census. That demographic underpins demand for three-plus-bedroom houses and good school access — which is exactly why those homes hold value.
- Heritage cuts both ways. Much of the period housing stock is beautiful and tightly controlled. Check planning overlays before you fall in love with a renovation plan; what you can do to a Victorian near Nelson Place is not what you can do to a 1980s brick home further back.
Should you buy in Williamstown as an investor?
Bluntly: buy here for capital stability and lifestyle, not for cash flow. The rental yield tells the story. Median house rent runs around $795 a week, which against a $1.57M median produces a gross yield of only about 2.48% — and some datasets put it even lower near 2.17%. That’s thin. After rates, insurance, and maintenance on an older bayside home, the holding cost is real.
What you’re buying instead is scarcity. Low building approvals, a long average hold period, and a finite ring of waterfront mean supply can’t easily expand. For an investor who wants a blue-chip asset that’s hard to lose money on over a decade, that’s the appeal. For one chasing rental return, the inner-north or the outer growth corridors will treat your spreadsheet better.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median house price in Williamstown in 2026? The median house price in Williamstown sits around $1.57 million in mid-2026, based on recent portal data, with the REIV recording $1,600,000 for the June 2025 quarter. Roughly 178 houses sold in the suburb over the prior 12 months.
How far is Williamstown from the Melbourne CBD? Williamstown is about 9–11km southwest of the CBD. It’s a roughly 30-minute train journey from Flinders Street Station on the Williamstown line, or about 15 minutes by car via the West Gate Freeway in light traffic.
Is Williamstown a good suburb to invest in? Williamstown suits investors who prioritise capital stability over rental yield. Gross house yields are low — around 2.48% on a ~$795 weekly median rent — but tight supply, a long average hold period, and strong family demand support durable values.
What can I buy for under $1 million in Williamstown? Under $1 million in Williamstown generally means a unit or apartment rather than a freestanding house. Two-bedroom units have recently sold in the $565,000–$610,000 range, and smaller two-bedroom houses occasionally trade under $800,000.
How long do houses take to sell in Williamstown? Houses in Williamstown spend roughly 69 days on market on average. That’s a relatively measured pace, which gives patient buyers room to negotiate on listings that have been sitting for several weeks.
Which part of Williamstown is most affordable? The North Williamstown pocket toward the Newport border tends to offer the best value, keeping you inside the suburb’s school zones and on the train line without the full waterfront premium attached to homes near Nelson Place and Williamstown Beach.
Sources: Domain — Williamstown VIC 3016 Suburb Profile; REIV — Williamstown market insights; Your Investment Property Magazine — Williamstown 3016 Suburb Profile; AuHousePrices — Williamstown 3016 sold list; Woodards — Williamstown property market; Wikipedia — Williamstown, Victoria. Median, rent, yield and sales-volume figures are point-in-time as at mid-2026 and vary by data provider; verify current listings on Domain or realestate.com.au before making an offer.
