Property on the cheap: Australia’s most affordable suburbs

Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of many places on the national list of cheapies. Many of these these towns and suburbs often range from places that are off the beaten track or are in areas with little in the way of economic drivers.

Today’s analysis confirmed that the 25 most affordable suburbs are geographically diverse and often have long histories of settlement. Surprisingly, many of the regions are associated with mining activities, highlighting that not all mining regions are experiencing surging values.

Queenstown, located in the western region of Tasmania, is currently Australia’s cheapest town and provides a prime example of a town that was founded in the late 1800s as a service centre for gold and copper mining operations. Nowadays, the town is better known for tourism than mining. However, some mining operations still exist.

In contrast, Australia’s capital cities pitch up a different story to the regions. The most affordable city-based suburbs are typically located far from the CBD and come with a lower socio-economic profile; crime rates tend to be high and lower standards of housing exist.

Within Australia’s capital city suburb’s, Davoren Park is now the country’s cheapest suburb. Located approximately 25km north of Adelaide, the suburb has a median value of just $175,357 with more than half of all Davoren Park dwellings currently being rented (almost double the state average). The suburb’s median household income is $688 per week compared with the state average of $1,044 per week.

Looking at the most expensive capital city market entry point, the most affordable suburb in Canberra is Charnwood. Located in the outer north-western fringe, the median house value for the suburb is $381,579, significantly higher than the most affordable suburbs in most other capital cities.

How the cheapest list of suburbs/towns is compiled

For the purpose of compiling Australia’s cheapest towns and suburbs list, the analysis uses median values rather than median prices.

RP Data estimates the value of virtually every residential property across the country; taking the middle ‘value’ for each suburb provides a much more reliable indication of what a buyer is likely to pay for the typical house within a suburb or town, compared with the median price, which is based on only those homes that have sold during the period.

Additionally, RP Data has excluded those suburbs recording fewer than 20 house sales over the past 12 months.

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