Collie tops regional WA property bargains for homebuyers who can’t afford the city
BUYERS finding it hard to get a foot in the metropolitan market may find better bargains in the country, figures show.
BUYERS finding it hard to get a foot in the metropolitan market may find better bargains in the country, figures show.
Realestate.com.au has compiled a list of rural areas considered favourable for buyers in WA, based on days on the market and affordable pricing.
The list puts Collie, 59km from Bunbury in the South-West, at the top and includes regional centres as far north as Cable Beach in the North-West.
In the latest CoreLogic RPdata Quarterly Regional Report out this week, senior researcher Cameron Kusher said while property market conditions in Australia’s capital cities were relatively buoyant, the same conditions were not being felt in resource-driven areas.
“While low interest rates have contributed to consumers being more confident in property purchase decisions, not all regional centres are enjoying a boost, with areas closely linked to the resources sector still seeing deteriorating property conditions,” Mr Kusher said.
“We’re starting to see greater home value growth across many coastal lifestyle markets. With mortgage rates tipped to remain low, the attractiveness of housing, particularly in some of the coastal regional markets, is likely to continue to show further growth over 2015.”
The quarterly report included Bunbury for the first time with house values up 1.2 per cent on the previous year and unit values 0.4 per cent higher.
“Despite the growth in home values, sales across the region were 4.7 per cent lower for houses over the year to February and 9 per cent less units were sold,” the report found.
“Bunbury homes are offering relatively high indicative yields for investors – 5.1 per cent for houses and 5.4 per cent for units.”
BUYERS’ MARKET LIST IN WA
1. Collie
2. Northam
3. South Hedland
4. Bridgetown
5. Narrogin
6. Cable Beach
7. Toodyay
8. Wandina
9. Manjimup
10. Denmark
* Source: realestate.com.au
THE DEVELOPMENT GUIDE: CLICK TO READ
Originally published as Collie tops regional WA property bargains for homebuyers who can’t afford the city