The three year-old, five-bedroom, three-bathroom property set on three acres on Picnic Road, on the north-west side of Ararat, sold within its desired range of $875,000 to $950,000.

This was considerably higher than the previous record of $800,000 set in 2012.

Ararat Ballarat Real Estate sales manager Brad Jensen said the high-profile sale should help lift the whole market.

“It’s a ripper,” he said.

“A price like this will help housing prices in Ararat (and) it will get acknowledgement from out-of-town buyers.

“Overall, it will be good for the town to have housing prices going up and it should filter down into the lower end of the market.”

Mr Jensen said the median house price in Ararat was $200,000 and the median listing time on the market before sale was 126 days.

The Picnic Road property sold within 22 days.

Mr Jensen said Ararat’s housing market had seen more interest from people in Melbourne.

“The Melbourne market ripples out to the Ballarat market, which in turn ripples out to the outlying areas,” he said. 

“Ararat’s market is really healthy at the moment.

“There are a lot of out-of-town buyers investing because the market is so expensive in Melbourne.

“The economy is going well compared to other areas. There are barely any vacant shops in the main street.”

Mr Jensen said increased V/Line and freight train services, the Western Highway duplication, the Hopkins Correctional Centre extension and the roll-out of the National Broadband Network should should also help.

“It will hopefully entice Melbourne people to make the tree change, not just invest,” Mr Jensen said.

Increases in real estate prices have yet to make an impact on rents, latest data from the Department of Human Services says.

Rental affordability has improved since a period when prison construction worker demand made Ararat rents some of the fastest growing in Victoria.