WARRACKNABEAL could be home to some of the most affordable residential properties in the state.
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Currently there nine houses listed on real estate website domain.com.au under $100,000 in the Warracknabeal township area.
The cheapest house listed on the site is a four-bedroom weatherboard home on Molyneaux Street, which has an asking price of $64,000.
NorthWest Real Estate owner John Hadley said it was a trend that had been around for quite some time.
“As prices go up everywhere else, it’s extraordinary how Warracknabeal properties are still very low,” he said.
“There is certainly a high number of older houses which has something to do with it; there's also not that high quantity of new homes being built.
“About eight years ago there would have been three times as many under $100,000.”
Mr Hadley said most houses the agency sold were built in the 1950s.
“There are still a number of houses from the turn of the century that we regularly sell,” he said.
With Melbourne growing at an extraordinary rate, Mr Hadley said it was common for people to make a tree-change.
“We sell a lot of houses to people coming from the western part of Melbourne especially who are looking for a different,” he said.
“They’re selling their homes for $500,000-plus and buying a decent home in Warracknabeal for less than half of that.
“It’s also common for people to buy homes for really cheap, renovate them and sell them for a great return.
“Warracknabeal is a great place to live; you can live here almost mortgage free and be close to good schools, jobs and have great weather.”
Elders Warracknabeal real estate manager Nick McIntyre said affordable housing was always important.
“There are always a number under that $100,000 threshold; some of them are a bit neglected, but there’s always a lot of interest from buyers,” he said.
“What we’re seeing at the moment is a large number of houses for under $100,000, or not much more than that.
“It’s definitely out of the normal cycle of things, but it depends on what’s available and who’s selling.”
He said affordable housing was available across the region.
“It’s not just Warracknabeal that has low prices, you often see it in the bigger centres too like Horsham and Stawell,” he said.
“We always have people coming to town who have heard about the low house prices here.
“If they put the money into these properties as investment homes, renovate them a bit, and sell or rent them, they will get a great return.”