Regional real estate: Houses in Werris Creek, Warracknabeal still cheap despite ... trends now
After what may have been a once-in-a-generation boom, regional property prices have cooled, which might be welcome news to those still looking to escape the rat-race.
However, for those willing to leave the bright lights of the city far behind there are some areas with solid capital growth that are particularly affordable.
The Covid period saw many city-slickers released from the shackles of the daily commute to the office, allowing them a move to regional areas for a sea or tree change, which caused a surge in house prices.
In the NSW town of Werris Creek you could snap up this nifty property for $190,000, which is below the median price
Since March 2020, the median price for Australian regional areas shot up by 41.6 per but under the pressure of rate rises it has eased by 5.7 per cent since June.
While most of the regional areas still advanced over the past year the much sought-after NSW region of Richmond-Tweed, which includes the Ballina, Byron and Lismore northern rivers, fell by 11.7 per cent over the last quarter.
Repeated flooding has also played a role in bringing houses that were fetching a median of more than $1 million at the market's peak down to $842,500.
Repeated flooding in the Lismore area, such as this deluge in March, has driven down property prices
The other regions to have substantial falls were NSW's Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven of 7.1 per cent, which was mirrored by a 7.1 percent fall on the Sunshine Coast in south east Queensland.
The Gold Coast saw properties decline by 6.4 per cent, while the Illawarra had a 6.1 per cent drop and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie fell 6 per cent, according to Core Logic.
If you are looking for a cheap house and are prepared to get well outside the city there are location where strong value growth has not put houses outside the range of affordability.
A modest $212,648 median property price can be found in the Victorian wheatbelt town of Warracknabeal, 338km north west of Melbourne.
To find a property at around the $382,466 price mark in South Australia you could try
