Where to invest in Australia under $300k

An Aussie property investor has spilled the beans on the best suburbs where you can still buy a home for under $300,000.

Taylor Troeth

2 min read

March 30, 2025 - 12:04AM

Real Estate

These Aussie suburbs have outpaced the rest

An average apartment in Australia will now set you back more than $680,000, but a savvy investor has revealed the best suburb’s where you can still buy under $300,000.

Investor and director of Palise Property, Steve Palise, has shared his top picks for affordable unit investments across the country.

After purchasing his first property at 25, while earning only $70,000, by 30 he owned nine properties. He is now a buyers agent helping others to invest and has completed over $1 billion in transactions.

Adelaide, Hobart, Perth, Ballarat and Newcastle were home to some of the suburbs where you could still purchase units under $300,000, which also had great future growth potential, according to Mr Palise.

SCROLL DOWN FOR LIST OF BEST SUBURBS UNDER $300,000

Unit in Ballarat suburb Sebastopol sold in March 2025 for 233,000.

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“Affordability is a growth driver in itself, townhouses in Sydney’s west, which were once more affordable, have almost tripled in price,” he said.

“Apartments in most capital cities have outperformed houses and the main driver for that is affordability.”

Mr Palise said an investment strategy that has always worked for him was to buy cheaper properties.

“My first investment in 2012 was in Blacktown for $230,000, that’s now valued at $580,000,” he said. He also purchased a unit in Cairns for $30,000 that rented out for $160 per week.

Steve Palise, property investor and buyers agent.

Unit in Salisbury, South Australia, that sold for $305,000 in December.

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“But it’s not just affordability it still comes down to supply and demand,” he said.

Each of the suburbs on the list also had tight vacancy rates, good population growth and a lack of supply, he added.

“Days on the market are shorter too,” he said. “In addition to that, the yields are quite good.”

“No matter what you’re doing, you want to make sure you’re getting your best return on investment,” Mr Palise said.

He said choosing whether to buy a negatively, neutrally or positively geared property depended on the individuals situation.

“Let’s say I have a 63 year-old client, I’m not going to buy them a negatively geared property, but if you’re a young working professional earning over $200,000 a year, they can handle it.”

These were the top areas he recommend investing in where you could find units under $300,000: