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Australia’s 10 most affordable regional areas showing ‘solid fundamentals’

With capital cities’ prices becoming more out of reach, first home buyers have turned to regional areas to get their foot up the property ladder. Here’s some of the best entryways into real estate this year.

melbourne geelong spi

The latest figures from PRD Real Estate have revealed that the weighted average Australian median house price increased 6 per cent annually up to the December quarter of 2020, with all capital cities seeing a surge in price growth.

This impressive growth was driven largely by the high influx of first home buyers supported by government incentives, low interest rates and lenient bank lending policies, according to the report.

But with the median family weekly income growing by only 1.8 per cent over the same period, the home affordability index has ultimately decreased by 1.8 per cent.

In fact, Sydney’s median house price has reached $1,211,488, with the average state loan at $645,743. Similarly, Melbourne’s house prices soared to $941,000, with the average state loan at over half a million dollars.

As affordability declines in metro capital cities and preference for remote working arrangements increase, many buyers have started to explore opportunities across regional areas, the report noted.

“Many regional markets have seen buyers capitalising on lower median property prices,” it explained.

“Regional areas have also become an attractive investment option over city capitals, as vacancy rates have been at record low levels, while also offering a higher rental return.”

Based on affordability, transactions, investability, property developments and employment, PRD has listed the top 10 affordable regional areas across Australia with solid fundamentals for sustainable future growth:

 

House price growth  (2011-2020)

Unit price growth (2011-2020)

House median price (2020)

Unit median price (2020)

Vacancy rate (as of Dec 2020)

House rental yield (as of Dec 2020)

Unit rental yield (as of Dec 2020)

Whitsunday, Qld

27.6%

-7.4%

$375,000

$260,000

1.5%

5.7%

6.7%

Toowoomba, Qld

33.3%

26.0%

$380,000

$315,000

0.9%

5.0%

5.3%

Mackay, Qld

8.6%

-26.6%

$380,000

$235,000

0.9%

5.6%

6.0%

Port Stephens, NSW

79.6%

37.1%

$619,750

$425,000

0.5%

3.9%

5.5%

Federation, NSW

50.5%

26.5%

$293,500

$253,000

0.8%

4.9%

5.4%

Greater Hume, NSW

45.3%

22.7%

$237,500

$270,000

1.0%

4.5%

5.6%

Greater Geelong, Vic

87.3%

58.4%

$590,000

$460,000

0.9%

3.6%

4.1%

Greater Bendigo, Vic

76.6%

35.6%

$415,000

$305,000

0.8%

4.5%

5.8%

Warrnambool, Vic

41.2%

25.3%

$408,000

$317,000

0.4%

4.4%

5.8%

Circular Head, Tas

34.7%

-27.1%

$255,000

$227,000

0.4%

4.7%

3.5%

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