The best affordable tree-change towns under $600,000

“We wanted to go as affordable as possible because we know just how crucial that is at the moment, with the cost of living and higher interest rates,” PRD chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said, adding houses in top regional towns can cost from 30 per cent to 65 per cent less than the capital cities.

“That’s why we ensure there’s good economic growth – people can get a local job.”

She noted that some of the areas have made the rankings in the past, such as Mackay and Shepparton, offering an opportunity to buyers before prices rise further.

“The fact we’ve got ‘returning champions’ tells us these places, they haven’t reached their peak yet,” she said.

“Charters Towers and Whitsundays was part of our top three in Queensland last year, and they didn’t make it this year, and that’s because some of them might become unaffordable or their unemployment rate has gone up.”

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Raine and Horne Dubbo managing director Ken Mongan said buyers in the area include locals, east coast investors chasing high occupancy rates and rental returns, and tree-changers ranging from young families to retirees.

He said buyers are drawn to the town’s accessibility via plane, train or car, as well as shopping facilities and an upgraded hospital. The NSW Rural Fire Service Training Academy opened in Dubbo a few years ago which has created jobs, he said.

Tree-changers are attracted to the affordable housing options, he said.

“They’ll sell their home on the east coast for in excess of seven figures, they come out to Dubbo, they can buy a beautiful home for $550,000 to $800,000 and live off their savings,” he said.

He said entry-level three-bedroom houses cost $400,000 and up, while four bedrooms and a double garage would cost north of $500,000, and a premium-style home could be up to $1.5 million.

Elders Real Estate Albury–Wodonga director Jamie Maynard said the lockdown-era stream of tree-changers has slowed.

“We still have people moving out of the cities, but nowhere near as much as it was,” he said.

Local employers include factories, the nearby supermarket distribution centre, the hospital and army barracks.

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For buyers, $400,000 to $550,000 will purchase a three-bedroom house that may need some work.

Between $1 million and $1.5 million would buy a “wow factor” home on a large block with a swimming pool, he said.

“We had so many people who were selling out of Melbourne and coming out to our area because of the value,” he said.

Colliers Toowoomba residential director Dominic Ryan said the area offers affordable options for home buyers in a friendly and family-centric community with schooling options and healthcare services.

“We do get the tree changers or those that potentially made what they thought was a tree change 15, 20 years ago but essentially have been suffocated by urban sprawl,” he said.

Some buyers come from south-east Queensland, others from NSW and Victoria, and others are local.

An older 1960s or 1970s brick house would start at half a million and up, while a new four-bedroom, two-bathroom double lock-up home in a new estate in the western suburbs of Toowoomba would cost about $700,000 to $750,000, he said.

At the upper end, homes can cost $2 million to $4 million or more. A homestead on about 100 hectares outside Toowoomba recently fetched $5 million, he said.