Top 12 affordable east coast regional hotspots revealed

These areas, according to PRDnationwide in geographical order, are:

• • Queensland
  
  • Mackay Regional Council
    
    • Median house price: $346,750
    • Median unit price: $225,000
    • House rental yield: 5.2 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 6.1 per cent
  • Central Highlands Regional Council
    
    • Median house price: $190,000
    • Median unit price: $123,500
    • House rental yield: 4.7 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 5.1 per cent
  • Douglas Shire
    
    • Median house price: $426,000
    • Median unit price: $343,000
    • House rental yield: 5 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 4.4 per cent
• NSW
  
  • City of Maitland
    
    • Median house price: $465,000
    • Median unit price: $350,000
    • House rental yield: 4.2 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 5.6 per cent
  • Yass Valley Council
    
    • Median house price: $545,000
    • Median unit price: $319,000
    • House rental yield: 4 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 4 per cent
  • Port Macquarie-Hastings Council
    
    • Median house price: $554,000
    • Median unit price: $382,000
    • House rental yield: 4.2 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 4.7 per cent
  • Dubbo Regional Council
    
    • Median house price: $345,000
    • Median unit price: $278,000
    • House rental yield: 4.8 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 4.9 per cent
• Victoria
  
  • City of Ballarat
    
    • Median house price: $365,000
    • Median unit price: $250,000
    • House rental yield: 3.8 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 4.7 per cent
  • Mitchell Shire Council
    
    • Median house price: $465,000
    • Median unit price: $320,000
    • House rental yield: 3.6 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 5 per cent
  • City of Warrnambool
    
    • Median house price: $350,000
    • Median unit price: $250,000
    • House rental yield: 5.1 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 5.1 per cent
  • City of Wodonga
    
    • Median house price: $355,000
    • Median unit price: $216,250
    • House rental yield: 4.8 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 4.6 per cent
• Tasmania
  
  • Northern Midlands Council
    
    • Median house price: $298,000
    • Median unit price: $258,500
    • House rental yield: 4.1 per cent
    • Unit rental yield: 5.5 per cent

Determining these areas were based on five key elements:

• To be considered affordable, the areas had to have a median price below the maximum affordable property sale price – the average state loan plus a 20 per cent deposit;
• To have reliable property trends, the areas had to have at least 20 transactions in 2017 and 2018 with positive price growth during both of those years;
• To ensure investment opportunities, the areas had to have an equal or above higher rental yield than its capital city as well as an equal to or lower vacancy rate; and
• To produce a solid economy, the areas had to have a high estimated value of future project development and higher concentration of commercial and infrastructure projects, as well as having an equal or lower unemployment rate than the state’s average.

These hotspots were deemed to be relatively obscure, which was the point of the report, according to PRDnationwide research manager Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo.

“We want to highlight out-of-the-box places that people may not have thought of, whether as an owner-occupier or investor, to build their wealth in,” Dr Mardiasmo told Smart Property Investment.

“These are LGAs [local government areas] that a lot of people would not think about yet they really offer more bang for your buck compared to capital cities and metro areas.

“They all have higher rental yield and lower vacancy rates than their respective capital cities (great for investment), are affordable (when compared to metro prices), have lower unemployment rate than their respective state average (thus local job growth), and high level of projects coming in in 2019 with the focus on infrastructure and commercial projects (thus sustainable economic growth).”