But the price of getting in is rapidly rising, with demand exceeding supply and the median sale price marching towards the $1 million mark.

“There is not a week when we don’t have a million-dollar sale and some houses sell within 24 hours of listing,” Brenton Wilson, director of Barry Plant Rowville said.

The median house sale price was $926,250 in the March quarter, rising 5.8 per cent from the previous quarter, Real Estate Institute of Victoria data showed.

The large suburb stretches covers almost 20km and was settled by Europeans in 1837, just two years after John Batman founded Melbourne.

It got its name from the Row family, whose property Stamford Park was established in 1882 and featured stables for horses. Stud Road is a major thoroughfare cutting across the suburb.

Leaving behind its pastoral and fruit orchard landholdings, Rowville has developed rapidly over the last four decades, with housing, shopping, recreational and light industrial activities.

There are about 12,000 homes for the population of more than 35,000 residents, with more townhouses, units and apartments being built in more recent times.

Offering plenty of family-sized blocks, the suburb has proved popular over the years and is consistently among the top-selling in the Knox municipality.

Properties acquired or built for five-figure sums in the 1980s have gone on to fetch as much as above $1 million in recent years.

In 2015 and 2017, more than 500 houses and units were bought each year but the number fell to 362 in 2020 from the impact of Covid lockdowns and a lack of supply.

Rowville accounts for about 20 per cent of home sales in Knox.

“Buyer demand since last October has favoured sellers and while listings have increased in 2021, the supply is not enough to satisfy demand,” Brenton Wilson said.

“We have an average four offers on contract per property this year and the average days on market is low at 17 days.”

Established couples and family units dominate the suburb with properties tightly held and residents preferring to upgrade or downsize within the area.

“A large suburb with a growing population, Rowville is a young area in terms of housing and it is served by a good infrastructure of schools, shops and freeway access,” Brenton added.

“It is just 15 minutes to the top of Mt Dandenong, you can drive to the beach, and one housing estate even has three lakes.”

Golf courses, retirement villages, three shopping districts, acres of parks and reserves plus public transport and easy access to major hospitals, train stations and Monash University, add to Rowville’s overall appeal.

According to realestate.com.au, Rowville is a high-demand suburb with 1573 visits per property listing as of May, 2021.