Housing Affordability

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Source: www.realestate.com Housing Affordability

It’s no secret that Australians have become more mobile in the past 12 months, and many are making the move from city to country. This regional “boom” has arrived in parts of the Western Downs which means the property market is strong and steady. We caught up with local real estate agent, Trina Martin from Surat Basin Real Estate to find out more.

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The offices of Surat Basin Real Estate have been humming for the past 18 months as the property market experiences exciting growth patterns, especially in the Chinchilla housing market.

According to Trina Martin, a four-bedroom, twobathroom brick home in suburban Chinchilla is selling for around $200,000 to $300,000 which is well below the median house price in Brisbane - $620,000; Sydney - $1.14 million and Melbourne - $869,000 (source www.theurbandeveloper.com).

“Chinchilla is seeing good movement across all areas of residential property at the moment. We are also seeing investors back in the market taking advantage of lower priced units,” she said.

“In fact, it’s currently cheaper to buy a $300,000 home than to rent one in Chinchilla!” she said.

“You can still buy a unit or townhouse for between $130,000 and $190,000. Whereas a block of residential land is around $40,000 and rural residential acreage – say two acres- is around $90,000 to $120,000.”

Trina said she was delighted to see the beautification of older established areas of town.

“It’s great that young couples and families are moving into the older parts of town and giving new life into character homes. By enhancing these areas they are also increasing the property value over the long term.”

Famous for generous house blocks and wide country streets, Trina believes Chinchilla is the perfect balance of country town living with plenty of amenities and services.

“Queensland seems to be experiencing a surge of interstate migration and we are certainly seeing a diverse group of people moving to the region,” she said. “And why wouldn’t you? Apart from the housing affordability we have restaurants, department stores, beautiful parkland and a really friendly caring community.”

Chinchilla The median house price for the last year was $250,000 and $140,000 for units. Houses rent for around $300pw with an annual rental yield of 6.2% while units rent for around $250pw yielding 9.3% per annum. Dalby The median house price for the last year was $257,000 and $208,250 for units. Houses in Dalby rent for around $300pw with an annual rental yield of 5.5% while units rent for around $220pw and yield 5.8%. Miles The median house price for the last year was $170,000. Average house rental is around $250pw and $220pw for units. Tara The median house price for the last year was $80,000. Jandowae The median house price for the last year was $121,500. Note: Source www.realestate.com.au figures are updated throughout the year but were correct at time of printing. There was not data for Wandoan at the time of printing.