Victoria and Tasmania home to Australia’s most affordable suburbs

Australia’s top five most affordable suburbs for houses are in Victoria and Tasmania, while the most affordable units can be found in South Australia, Victoria and NSW revealed a new analysis of the Australian property market.

Jeparit in Victoria was found to be the most affordable suburb nationally to purchase a home with a median value of $85,616, followed by Zeehan (TAS), Queenstown (TAS), Rosebery (TAS) and Sea Lake (VIC) which had median house prices between $89,000-$97,000.

Commissioned by NAB and property analytics provider CoreLogic RP Data, the report found that Australian capital city home values have increased by 7.9% over the past year.

In the year to April 2015, Sydney and Melbourne home values increased by 14.5% and 6.9% respectively, followed by Brisbane which recorded a 2.2% increase. Meanwhile, annual growth for house values outside the capital cities was weaker with 4.6% growth in NSW, -0.9% in Victoria and 1.1.% in Queensland.  

Gagebrook in Tasmania was the most affordable capital city suburb to purchase a home at $135,530, followed by Elizabeth North (SA), Russell Island (QLD), Melton (VIC), Media (WA), San Remo (NSW) and Charnwood (ACT).

Meanwhile, the cheapest capital city suburbs to purchase a unit was Elizabeth Vale (SA), Bethania (QLD), Claremont (TAS), Orelia (WA), Albion (VIC), Berkely Vale (NSW) and Hughes (ACT).

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The report titled Australian Housing Market, provides valuable insights into the housing market for home loan customers said NAB General Manager Home Lending, Meg Bonighton.

“Buying a home can be daunting, and we recognise that individual circumstances will vary, so it’s important to sit down with your banker or broker to work out a plan that’s right for you,” she said.

In the short term, NAB expects that average capital city house price growth will slow at 6.4% through to the end of the year. A further fall is expected in 2016 to 3.8%, largely reflecting NAB’s expectations for rising unemployment, sluggish household income growth, affordability concerns, cost of living pressures and continuing high levels of household debt.

By individual capital city, the report indicated that house price growth will accelerate moderately in Brisbane and Adelaide at 5% and 0.5% respectively, in contrast to Sydney and Melbourne where prices are expected to slow to 5% and 3.5% respectively.