Edinburgh Gardens is "akin to NY's Central park".

Edinburgh Gardens is "akin to NY's Central park". Photo: Gary Medlicott

One of the abiding truths of the real estate market is that if you buy property overlooking a park, you'll almost always pay a premium. But a new study suggests that close access to parkland may play an even bigger role in boosting prices than many people imagine.

''In Sydney, buying select real estate is about getting harbour views,'' Carlton North-based buyer's advocate Paul Osborne says. ''In Melbourne, it's about parks.''

His company, Secret Agent, tracked inner-city house sales between January 2009 and December 2012 and found properties opposite parks punched mightily above their weight.

In Carlton, 130 houses sold at a median price of $1,082,800 during that period, but properties overlooking Carlton Gardens fetched a median $1,600,000.

This pattern was repeated elsewhere. Parkville notched up 61 sales at a median price of $1,490,900, but those facing Royal Park fetched a median $1,725,000.

In Fitzroy North, 396 houses sold at a median of $1,110,000. Of those, 15 were park houses and they led the suburb with a median price of $1,786,700.

The study suggests that owners of park-facing houses understand the value of their asset. Many are happy to list properties for sale in a fast-rising market or when areas are attracting aspirational buyers. In quieter markets, though, they bide their time and the supply can dry up.

''Parks are important to the whole suburb, but having a view over parkland tends to take a property into another league,'' Mr Osborne says.

''You see the bigger Victorian terraces and the more ornate properties in those locations. They are the most impressive homes, which means 150 years ago, people were thinking the same thing as today's buyers: it's important to be opposite the park.''

Sydney has hilly terrain but Melbourne, by and large, is flat, and this may contribute to the knockout prices for inner-urban houses facing public gardens. Last July, a four-bedroom Victorian house in Fitzroy North's Alfred Crescent, overlooking Edinburgh Gardens, was sold by Nelson Alexander for $3,530,000. Two months earlier, the house next door - another large Victorian - fetched $4,200,000 at auction.

Arch Staver, who auctioned both properties, says more people in the inner-city are staying put.

''Historically, they have moved out because of [a shortage of] space, so any property that can be extended or made larger is always coveted,'' he notes.

''Edinburgh Gardens is akin to New York's Central Park. It is a park that a lot of people use. Dogs can be off a lead and networking goes on there.''

Since the 1990s, this precinct has caught the eye of aspirational buyers with deep pockets.

''In Fitzroy North, the price difference for properties opposite parks has changed enormously over the past decade and the turnover of park houses has increased compared with the rest of the suburb,'' Mr Osborne says.

''There has been slower transaction turnover in Albert Park's St Vincent Place [which has about 100 park houses] than in the rest of the suburb. The price growth for park houses there hasn't been as great.''

Not all parks are equal. Properties overlooking lightly used parks can be preferable to those abutting a heavily used park, particularly ones where team sports are played.

Mr Osborne believes properties that back on to parks also attract a premium.

Other commentators aren't so sure. A director of Wakelin Property Advisory, Richard Wakelin, says access to bike tracks is important. ''But if you're backing on to a park, there are issues of personal protection and safety,'' he says.