Suburb spotlight: Albury-Wodonga, how do the markets compare across the Murray?

Over the past two weeks, Property Observer has featured the twin cities of Albury and Wodonga separately. It’s now time to make the two cities share the spotlight, as we compare their property markets.

The local governments of Albury and Wodonga would have you believe that the two cities – one in New South Wales, the other in Victoria, are worlds apart. But with only the Murray River between them, how different can the two markets be?

The major differences between the two cities are a result of their respective governments. With Albury in New South Wales, buyers and sellers in that city have to contend with the state’s stamp duties and land tax rates. The same goes for Wodonga on the other side of the border. But despite Albury’s New South Welsh affiliations, the city is closer to Melbourne than it is Sydney.

ALBURY-WODONGA: THE KEY FIGURES

• Total population: 82,083 
• Total dwellings: 35,831 
• Median weekly household income: $1,039 
• Median monthly mortgage repayment: $1,452

Source: ABS 2011

Council plans may also have an impact, according to founder of Destiny Financial Solutions, television host and Property Observer columnist, Margaret Lomas.

“Wodonga has a sustained and fairly lengthy land release timetable, and to my knowledge, Wodonga seems to have more land available for land release than Albury,” she says.

However, Lomas doesn’t think land release timetables will necessarily make a  difference to investors.

“I don’t think that will ultimately affect land values,” says Lomas. “In reality, you’re not disadvantaged by living in one over the other.”

Albury’s close proximity to Wodonga (or the other way around) means that if one town benefits, so does another.

“I know the councils want to uncouple them, but you can’t really,” she says. “If you live in one or the other, you don’t miss out. The residences get to enjoy the benefits of both towns.

“I think they’re pretty much exposed to almost exactly the same growth drivers.”

As for that growth, Lomas says that it’s likely to be slow and steady for both towns, thanks to improvements from their local governments.

“I think we’ll see sustained growth in both of them. Both local governments are providing far better services to their residents, and are focussed in creating a better lifestyle for their residents,” says Lomas. She cites Wodonga’s town centre developments, the first of their kind in the town, as a move by local government to improve services. Other big spending items in Wodonga include a new saleyard at North Barnawartha and the now completed Logic industrial site.

But despite big spending agendas, Lomas doesn’t believe that we’ll necessarily see rapid growth from the two cities. She echoes the sentiment from Albury real estate agent Peter Drummond of Drummond Real Estate, who told Property Observer late last year that he believed the city’s market was “steady and strong.”

“They both have room for growth,” she says. “But a boom? I don’t think so. And I don’t think we ever see that in any country areas. But over time we could see some excellent returns in a sustained fashion.”

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.