Why a treechange could keep your property dream alive

Purchasing a home is fast becoming a receding dream for many Melburnians. The bleak prospect of escalating house prices is a depressing state of affairs pushing the first-home deposit goal further out of reach. There is a silver lining if you cast your search further and consider greener pastures.

An increasing number of young city professionals are thinking outside the box; by that I mean buying in regional Victoria rather than being pushed to the city fringes.

Rural life doesn’t mean a village in the middle of nowhere. The flourishing population in certain towns in regional Victoria illustrates a diversifying, dynamic economy that will continue to gentrify as the area grows. To be honest, many resemble a Melbourne suburb – yes, they have cafes.

The Victorian government has previously implemented measures to encourage first-home buyers to purchase in regional areas. Executing a social engineering policy to relieve prices in metropolitan areas and push buyers out of cities is a hard task.

Entry-level buyers have been encouraged to buy in rural Victoria by the first home regional bonus. When the scheme ceased at the end of 2012 the median house price in Melbourne was a mere $535,883. Home values have since escalated to a median of $814,896 at the end of 2016. The growth in house prices is showing no signs of slowing.

The median price of a house in Melbourne could get you at least two homes in certain parts of regional Victoria. The large price differential between metropolitan and regional areas is encouraging enough. The median price of a city pad could cover a home in Ballarat and in Wodonga with money to spare for an overseas holiday. Let’s put this into perspective: the median house price is a mere snippet of Melbourne’s at $320,000 in Ballarat and $325,000 in Wodonga. It is no doubt regional area home values are at a far more palatable price point.

Prospective new homeowners are likely to be bolstered once the first-home owner grant is doubled from July 1. It is anticipated this grant could encourage more first-home buyers to escape the city and opt for regional Victoria instead.

Purse strings may become looser from a regional property purchase but there are other added benefits to rural living. Many families choose to move out of the rat race to take advantage of the more relaxed lifestyles on offer.

A close friend recently fled the city to Geelong for a “remote lifestyle”. The family adjusted from a daily two-hour round-trip commute to 20 minutes, which included a drop-off at daycare. A predicament we all wish we had. As house prices steam ahead in Melbourne, it is likely more residents will decide to embrace regional life.