Melbourne’s population could be growing too fast - and that the amount of people moving to the city may need to be moderated, a leading demographer has warned.

Aerial images are all that is needed to prove the transformation of Greater Melbourne has been extraordinary.

Clyde North - a developers' dream just eight years ago- is now brick and tile as far as the eye can see. It’s a building bonanza repeated time and time again, from Point Cook to Doreen and Cranbourne East.

An aerial image of Point Cook eight years ago. Picture: NearMap (NearMap)

... and what it looks like today. Picture: NearMap (NearMap)

If the city was in a population race with Sydney, the Harbour City would be left for dead. Melbourne is currently growing by 126,000 people a year, while the NSW rival is adding 90,000.

“Out rate of growth has increased ten-fold over the course of a single generation,” The Demographics Group Managing Director, Bernard Salt, told 9NEWS.

“It’s a bit like a car travelling too fast. You get the speed, things start to shake.”

The current spike compared to 25 years ago is staggering, Mr Salt explained. In 1993, early in the Jeff Kennett era, the city’s population grew by just 12,000 people.

"It's a bit like a car travelling too fast," Mr Salt said of Melbourne's population. (9NEWS) (9news)

“People were streaming out of the city… taking redundancies from the public service or private sector,” he said.

Currently Melbourne’s population stands at 4.7 million, and is expected to hit five million by 2021.

By 2050, that figure is forecast to soar to eight million.

Melbourne's population growth exceeds Sydney's by thousands. (9NEWS) (9news)

On current trends, Melbourne will become the nation’s most populous city sometime in the 2030s, well ahead of previous estimates.

With the predicted population explosion, Plan Melbourne- the state government’s blueprint to 2050- predicts the city will need to:

* Build another 1.6 million homes

* Create 1.5 million extra jobs

* Cater for 10 million more trips a day on public transport; an 80 percent increase.

By 2050, Melbourne is expected to be home to eight million people. (9NEWS) (9news)

Melbourne is in the midst of a population explosion, experts have warned. (9NEWS) (9news)

Mr Salt said the reason behind the city’s flourishing population was its affordability relative to Sydney.

“You can still buy a house and land package in Melbourne’s western fringe with a ‘three’ in front of the price. You cannot do that anywhere near Sydney.”

Mr Salt added a ‘big picture plan’ is vital, with now the time to evaluate limiting the flow of people moving to the city.

“There are times when a city grows too fast and I think we're in that time at the moment,” he said.

“But that does not mean shutting the gate… it might mean closing it a bit.”