As Horsham's prices rise, buyers turn to cheaper fringe towns: HTW
Victoria's Horsham city has been perched at the peak of the property cycle for both houses and units for April and May, according to valuation firm Herron Todd White's latest property clock -- a simple broad brush means to suggest where property markets are and what direction prices are moving in.
Horsham’s residential real estate market continues to provide a stable investment for both owner-occupiers and investors. The urbanisation of today’s population is bringing senior members of the community to central service hubs such as Horsham and generally increasing the larger centre’s ability to attract and retain the younger generation and continuing its population growth. In turn this brings about expanding outer built up fringe areas and increased prices for inner city property located in close proximity to shops and services.
As real estate in inner city Horsham continues to appreciate, more and more buyers are looking for cheaper alternatives. In larger centres such as Ballarat or Melbourne, this would see buyers moving further out of town into the suburbs and becoming more reliant on the local neighbourhood shopping centre. In Horsham, this phenomenon is generally different and sees families moving to smaller nearby town such as Murtoa and Dimboola that are located within a 30-minute drive of Horsham but maintain schools and local shops.
House prices in these smaller towns are significantly lower than Horsham. As an example, Horsham’s current median house price sits at $290,000, while Dimboola’s median house price is a far more affordable $120,000. When weighing up size and affordability, regional towns are definitely an option.
Property Observer looked up a few recent sales around the median prices for Dimboola and came up with these from www.realestate.com.au:
A two-bedroom house at 3 Acacia Street Dimboola Vic 3414 (above) sold for $107,000.