Suburb spotlight: Albury-Wodonga
A reader recently wrote in requesting a suburb spotlight on regional area Albury-Wodonga, so Property Observer has collated data to give a snap shot of how the area is tracking.
Albury-Wodonga has over 82,000 residents and just under 36,000 private dwellings, according to the 2011 census.
Albury is the hardest place to find rental accommodation, after a 0.2% decline in its vacancy rate in October to 1.8%, according to the REINSW. Albury’s vacancy rate was at its lowest in July at 1.4%.
According to the REINSW’s June 2013 report, Albury enjoyed marked annual improvements with the median house price rising 5.7% to $280,000.
However units fell annually by 1.4% since June 2012 to $180,000 in June this year.
As an area, Albury-Wodonga’s October vacancy rate was recorded at 2.0%, a 0.4% increase from its September rate of 1.6%, according to REIV.
Peter Drummond of Drummond Real Estate says the Albury market is a “very normal” market and he doesn’t plan on leaving it anytime soon.
Drummond says auctions in the regional area are generally failures but says it’s not an indication of how the market is.
“We’re not having any problem making sales, the city is a strong city, the region is a strong region.
“There are positive things about the market and some people are predicting it as a bit of a boom town – I think it will remain steady and strong.
“Prices have been stable for around seven or eight years, but we get some properties that sell easy and then get others that we kind of scratch our heads at,” says Drummond.
Drummond says Albury receives good investor interest in the city, as the yields are generally better than the big cities and other regional towns.
The median house price in Albury is $370,000, a 2.8% change in the past five years, and properties spend an average of 113 days on the market, according to RP data.
The median rental price for a house in Albury is $320, a 4.5% rental yield reflection.
The median house price in Wodonga is $260,000, a 2% change in the past five years, according to RP Data.
Houses in Wodonga spend an average of 109.5 days on the market and reflect a 5.6% rental yield with a median house rent of $280.
The median unit price in Albury is $209,500, a 10.6% change in five years, according to RP Data.
Units in Albury spend an average of 142 days on the market and have a median rent of $230, reflecting a 5.7% rental yield.
Units in Wodonga have a median price of $175,000, a 1.4% change in the past five years.
They spend an average of 124 days on the market and have a median rent of $210, reflecting a 6.2% rental yield.
A three-bedroom classical red brick home on Paine Street is on the market for $519,000.
The home last traded in July 1988 for $125,000, according to RP Data.
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A three-bedroom weatherboard home on Kooba Street is available to rent for $270 a week.
The 1960s home features a renovated kitchen, one bathroom and a rear yard.
The property last traded in September for $189,000, reflecting a potential rental yield of 7.43%.
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