Melbourne's obsession with renovation is growing, with home owners spending more money than any other city on home improvements. 
It appears Melburnians are more keen to renovate their homes than Sydneysiders, committing about $52 million extra over the   September quarter.
Nearly $500 million of alteration and renovation work was approved on additions from basements to internal courtyards in Melbourne, up 9.5 per cent over the year, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.  
Melbourne's renovation heartland are Malvern and Glen Iris, where residents committed $14.7 million upgrading their properties. 
Home owners in Kew, Prahran, Windsor, Brighton, Albert Park and Toorak are also among the biggest renovation spenders.  
The top renovation suburbs in Sydney are Double Bay and Bellevue Hill, and in Perth it's Spearwood, Success and Hammond Park. 
Kathryn Robson, director of Robson Rak Architects, said many homes in Melbourne's popular renovation areas were protected by heritage overlays, and could not be demolished and rebuilt.
While some people were forced to renovate, she said Melburnians tended to appreciate the heritage value of a beautiful old Victorian or Edwardian home.
"Yet they're still quite prepared to push the boundaries, and put a modern architectural statement onto the back of a heritage property", she said.
Home owners were trying to bring swimming pools into their property, regardless of how big they were, she said, and wanting kitchens that evolve into a butler's pantry.
Compared with the past, Ms Robson said people were were more educated about design trends and willing to spend more on renovations, particularly because of rising house prices. 
Richard Earle, director of Jellis Craig Hawthorn, said 
the "renovation, extension explosion" was driven by families wanting to live near the facilities, and were now renovating to raise their living standards or extending to create extra accommodation.
This might include a separate living zone for teenagers upstairs, an extra bathroom or rumpus room with a pool table. 
"And with the added demographic trend now, of where teenagers are living at home now well into their 20s in the majority of circumstances, they are looking at those trends and saying 'we're going to have create living spaces for this to occur on an ongoing basis'."
Bill Malouf, of LJ Hooker Double Bay, said historical-low interest rates would also be the main motivating factor for home owners to renovate.
There was also a lack of stock in the eastern suburbs, he said, so people originally looking to buy could be looking to extend or renovate instead.
"Rather than upsizing, they've decided to stay where they are and add the extra bedroom or the extra rumpus room on the property they are currently living in," he said. 
Domain Group senior economist Andrew Wilson said inner-city locations were favoured for renovation because of rising property values and higher costs of relocation.
There was a growing culture of do-it-yourself renovation in Melbourne, he said, perhaps inspired by reality renovation TV show such as The Block.
He said Malvern and Glen Iris had a "breadth and depth" of low-rise, higher priced properties compared with suburbs such as South Melbourne which was a little bit more mixed. 
Top 20 renovation hotspots
Suburb*/Total Value**
1. Malvern (VIC) - Glen Iris $14.7 million
2. Kew (VIC)  - $13.9 million
3. Double Bay - Bellevue Hill (NSW) - $13.6 million
4. Prahran - Windsor (VIC) - $13.4 million
5. Point Nepean (VIC) - $12.4 million
6. Willoughby - Castle Cove - Northbridge (NSW) - $12.2 million
7. Brighton (VIC) - $11.5 million
8. Mosman (VIC) - $11.4 million
9. Albert Park (VIC) - $11.3 million
10. Lane Cove - Greenwich (NSW) - $11.2 million
11. Toorak (VIC) - $10.4 million
12. Bondi Beach - North Bondi (NSW) - $10 million
13. Spearwood (WA) - $10 million
14. Coogee - Clovelly (NSW) - $9.7 million
15. Hawthorn (VIC) - $9.6 million
16. Freshwater - Brookvale (NSW) - $9 million
17. Malvern East (VIC) - $8.4 million
18. South Yarra - West (VIC) - $8.3 million
19. Success - Hammond Park (WA) - $8.2 million
20. Flinders (VIC) - $8.2 million
*SA breakdown **  September quarter
Source: Dr Andrew Wilson, ABS