Aussies lose it over $85k home in country South Australia

A regional Australian real estate agent’s phone is ringing hot as Aussies go bananas for this country home – but there’s a catch.

Get to Coonalpyn – you literally have to be there.

A regional South Australian real estate agent’s phone is ringing hot with potential homebuyers leaping at a car-priced home.

Alastair Johnson said he had copped countless calls from Perth to Pyrmont for his $85,000 home listing.

But unless a potential buyer can make the trip across the Nullarbor, or out of the big smokes of Sydney or Melbourne by Sunday, they won’t stand a chance.

“I’m very adamant about this … we want people to have an inspection, we will not accept an offer site unseen,” he told news.com.au.

“I could have accepted an offer the first night I listed it, but we want to be totally transparent.”

Having been on the market for less than 24 hours, 32 Peake Terrace in the small South Australian Town of Coonalpyn has sent buyers into a frenzy with its asking price of just $85,000.

The home in the regional South Australia town of Coonalpyn is a bargain. Picture: Realestate.com.au/ Spence Dix and Co

Sitting less than two hours from Adelaide and 40 minutes from Coorong National Park, the four-bedroom, one-bathroom home and shed on a 1149sq m block has created quite a buzz in the otherwise quiet town of roughly 350 people.

The property comes on a large block with a shed. Picture: Realestate.com.au/ Spence Dix and Co

There will be an open home for the hyper-cheap property on Sunday afternoon, but Mr Johnson, from Spence Dix and Co, said competition was already looking fierce.

“I’m struggling to keep up with emails, and I’ve been continually peppered by phone calls,” he said.

The home needs some TLC but people across the country are flocking. Picture: Realestate.com.au/ Spence Dix and Co

While it’s a far cry from the multimillion dollar farm properties he usually deals in, Mr Johnson and the home’s listing hinted at a fruitful local rental market.

“With the expansion of local intensive industries and farmers looking for accommodation for staff, it represents an opportunity to buy a house at an affordable level,” the listing reads.

Mr Johnson added that in Coonalpyn and nearby towns “there’s literally nothing to rent” – a statement real estate websites appear to reflect.

Its listing suggests a solid local rental market. Picture: Realestate.com.au/ Spence Dix and Co

“A ton of traffic also goes through Coonalpyn on the Dukes Highway,” Mr Johnson said.

While conceding the home needs some TLC, Mr Johnson estimates about $10,000-$20,000 worth of work would make it “completely liveable”.

“This would be the size of a palace in Sydney,” he chuckled.

And the home is cheap by not just Australian standards, but the town too.

The only other listing in town is a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home on a slightly larger block for $220,000.

Despite the $85,000 asking price, Mr Johnson expects it to go higher.