Low interest rates, a record number of auctions and auction clearance rates of more than 70 per cent combined to push Melbourne's median house price up more than 7 per cent in the final quarter of last year.  But while such figures focus attention on the city's million-dollar suburbs and areas of most growth, they also show that Melbourne still has many affordable suburbs.

Medians include the highest sales as well as the lowest – in Toorak, for example, there were numerous sales of more than $3 million in the December quarter.  This can inflate the median but does not necessarily mean all the suburb's houses will reach such heights.

This is worth remembering if using the medians to price your own house – they are a valuable starting point but many individual factors – location, quality and size, for example – may mean your home is worth more, or less.

The new median figures show, predictably, a number of the city's big-name, leafy eastern suburbs as its most expensive.  As well, the strong quarter pushed one new suburb on to the million-dollar list – Williamstown. With a median house price of exactly $1million, the bayside suburb joins a growing list of suburbs, including Malvern, Albert Park and Fitzroy, to sit at or above the $1million mark.

But they also revealed some extremely affordable suburbs in the city's west and south east, with some of those median prices actually lower than in the September quarter.  Top of that list was Melton West with a median of $276,000, down 2.3 per cent on the September quarter.  Others among the top 10 most affordable suburbs included Cranbourne and Cranbourne West, Wyndham Vale, Carrum Downs and Pakenham.

Victoria's regional housing market also improved in the December quarter – statewide the median house price was up by 2.6 per cent, the highest since the March quarter last year.  That brought a new record price of $320,500 with prices in the three key regional centres, Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat, all growing.

But the medians also reveal there are still bargains available for those contemplating a tree change.  In the Alpine region, for example, although the December quarter median was 3.6 per cent above September, it remains affordable at $285,000.  And in East Gippsland prices fell by 1.7 per cent on the previous quarter with the median at $285,000.