Melbourne has woken up to a world without Neighbours, and the impending demolition of the iconic Erinsborough set is expected to send demand for the remaining real Ramsay Street homes into overdrive. Less than 24 hours after the final episode aired, bulldozers are preparing to move into the former Nunawading studio site, erasing the entire fictional town except for a single quiet cul-de-sac in Vermont South.
The Lassiters backlot, the Waterhole, Harold’s Store, the lawyer’s offices, and the man-made lake that featured in four decades of episodes will all be demolished under the approved Forest Ridge plan. None of the exterior sets is protected under the site’s heritage overlay, leaving only the red-brick 1964 administrative block, the old Wentworth façade, to remain. This leaves Pin Oak Court as the last intact geography connected to the beloved show.
Real Estate Surge on Ramsay Street
Docking Real Estate director Adam Docking noted that this week’s finale has already stirred renewed curiosity around the famous street. “Those homes have always attracted more responses and stronger prices,” Mr. Docking said. “There’s a magic to it, and that won’t disappear.”
The latest PropTrack market trends data shows Vermont South’s house prices now sit at a $1.51 million median, placing the suburb well above the wider Melbourne benchmark. The area is already running hotter than the metro market overall, with lean listing levels, shorter days on market, and above-average buyer inquiry. Demand is strongest in long-tenure, school-belt suburbs, exactly the profile that built Ramsay Street.
Historical Legacy and Cultural Impact
For four decades, the six homeowners of Pin Oak Court were paid between $30,000 and $50,000 a year for filming access and were required to keep their facades unchanged. Those contracts ended with last night’s finale, giving residents the freedom to repaint and renovate. “People stay here 20 or 30 years,” Mr. Docking said. “It’s safe, it’s stable, the schools are fantastic. It holds its own even when other areas soften.”
The studio precinct, now fully vacated by Fremantle, stands empty. The lightweight Lassiters facades will be the first to fall, while the lake will be drained and filled before becoming a smaller engineered water feature inside a new public park. It creates a sharp contrast that the place where Harold once poured coffees and Charlene climbed through a window will soon be a construction zone, while the real Ramsay Street becomes a cultural trophy.
Future Prospects and Market Predictions
Mr. Docking expects any future listing on the court to draw national attention. “When the next one comes up after an upgrade, it will go off,” he remarked. “There’s nothing else like it, especially now the sets are being pulled down.” The new Forest Ridge estate will market a leafy suburban lifestyle under the line “Make it Home,” even as it replaces the very place that created Australia’s most famous version of home.
As demolition crews move in, Lassiters will fall, the lake will disappear, and the streets of Erinsborough will be wiped off the map. But on a small court in the east, the homes that built the show’s final scenes may be entering their most valuable decade yet. “If we get a listing in that pocket,” Mr. Docking said, “We’ll still market it as a Neighbours property, absolutely.”
The move represents not just the end of an era for a beloved television show but also a new chapter for a suburb that has become a part of Melbourne folklore. Even as the fictional sets are dismantled, the allure of Ramsay Street seems set to endure, promising a unique blend of nostalgia and opportunity for future homeowners.
