Bargain properties you could have bought this year – starting at $20,000
By Emily Power
These were the headline-making bargain listings of 2024.
From a designer cabin in Queensland to Australia’s cheapest “mansion” and a family-sized house (with a catch) that cost less than the price of a hatchback, several buyers this year made savvy moves.
Russell Island, Queensland
The listing at 12 Oaklea Street is a chic one-bedroom, one-bathroom property.
On a verdant forest block of 595 square metres, the dwelling consists of two new shipping containers with flash interiors.
It sold for $231,000 in September.
Russell Island is about 90 minutes south-east of Brisbane, in the City of Redland. Most Australians will have heard of its higher-profile neighbours, North Stradbroke and South Stradbroke islands.
Mount Isa, Queensland
The pool at the enormous, mid-century-style Mount Isa home.Credit: Jays Real Estate
“Live like royalty”, trumpeted the listing, and with a price guide of $450,000, this home meant the purchaser would not be held to a king’s ransom.
The Queensland property was Domain’s most-viewed home of the week in July.
On a block of more than 1200 square metres, the palatial home could well have been Australia’s best entry-level mansion, even in a market where the five-year price growth has spiked impressively.
It is not known if the property transacted, as the listing has been shelved.
Moree, New South Wales
If you owned a tool belt and had gumption, here was a jaw-dropper – a house for less than the price of a hatchback.
The home in Moree was destroyed by a fire, the listing explains, presenting as a land value proposition.
The property sold for $20,000 – one-fifteenth the median house price in the NSW town at the time.
The bargain listing, agency Ray White Rural Moree said, had general residential zoning, in a regional hub where there are daily flight and rail links to Sydney.
Sydney’s median house price is $1.65 million.
Coober Pedy, South Australia
Australia’s least expensive five-bedroom home was listed with a red-hot price of $50,000. It traded for $45,000 in April.
The location is one of the most iconic in Australia, and is suited to a particular type of buyer.
Lot 348 Big Johns Road is in Coober Pedy, an outback mining town with a landscape that has been described as the closest thing on Earth to living on the moon. Many reside underground because of the heat.
The home was dated, the listing said, but for a buyer who wanted to seek their fortune in the opal capital of the world, it was ripe to be customised.
Queenstown, Tasmania
To buy a property for well below the typical Australian house price, set your radar on Tasmania’s award-winning west coast.
Tassie’s increasingly popular Queenstown – which won Australia’s Top Small Tourism Town award for 2023 – boasted a crop of listings for under $400,000.
At this top end, the properties presented as character-filled and stylish.
This listing is a charming buttercream property, offered by a “motivated seller” who wants to move on with the next phase of her life. The price? $298,000.
Noble Park, Melbourne
Sold, for $86,000. No, you are not imagining it – an apartment in a capital city suburb fetched just that.
The address in Melbourne’s Noble Park was whisked off the market for less than the price of a prestige car.
The studio apartment, which sold on August 15, was reaping $913 per month in rent, the Ray White listing said.
The floor plan is compact but packs in a bathroom with a shower, a kitchen with sink, rangehood, bar fridge and hotplates, and a singe space for the bedroom and sofa.