Hass

I think year 2010 is the year that real estate market is much heated, the price could be higher. and the other reason is the first homeowner grant will be ended soon, no one at this momoment want to buy any property. It happened not in Pakenham, but in all melbourne.
Pakenham property value will be sure going up in the future.
West surburbs of Melbourne don't have good infrastructure plan, say, Melton, no Metro train, only Vline. the property in westen area always low valued. Talking about west, we just know the lowest price over there.West doesn't have a good image.(my personal idea, don't be mad with me, because I buy a house, I have to do a research and I have to take into accounts these factors.)
North melbourne, I feel like heaven.Before I bought a house in Pakenham, I visited all areas. I mean too many beautiful garderns, but no trees, so artificial,say,Morang. heaven means for dead people.(that's my personal idea, i have this feel).no industy in North, means less job opportunities.
South-west area, like werribee,it stays in the corner, not easy to travel to east or south-east.
East suburbs, it's the traditional good and rich areas. like richmond, hawthorn, boxhill, nunawading,blackburen, ringwood, lilydale, even belgrave.But it's now reaching it's bottleneck,due to the Dandenong Ranges. East development has reached to its limitation.No room for further development.
South-east area, like Frankston, I don't think theres any beautiful future, because it/s also no room to develop or extend due to the sea.
Pakenham area, is the only hub we can extend to Warragul, even all the way along to Sydney. We can put more population , more industry here. Pakenham got the future. It/s also an important hub to connect rural areas with Melboune metroplitan surburbs.
Many business opportunities lie here, some people come to melbourne and stop at Pakenham, then catch the train. or they find a hotel, because they save money for expensive hotel fee in the city.
Good transport system in pakenham, say Monash freeway.
Good living environment, less trouble here and very peaceful,but recently, it seems more population growth, more noise...(my personal feeling).
Pakenham is close to Dandenong, the future capital city of South-east.
Pakenham is close to Beriwick, the future education center of South-east.
Pakenham is the closest suburb to Philip Island.
In pakenham , you can get easy access to the East suburbs of Melbouren, to the city, to Frankston. That's very important, because you can easily go to important suburbs in Melbourne.Compared to werribee, you take time in werribee (it's in the corner position) to travel to Frankston, to the east.
In a word, I believe pakenham property value will boom in the future, it could take 10 years.

Hass, it's a very good question and Jimtony1 hit the nail on the head when he said it's not just prices in Pakenham, but prices nationally and even internationally have dropped significantly.
I am an estate agent in Pakenham, but perhaps just as importantly, I am a born and raised local who owns property myself. Without question the market will improve and you will see the price of your unit not only reach the level it was in 2010, but surpass that.
If you can afford to hold onto your house, I suggest do. Prices will rise in the not too distant future.