Shepparton has been named as one of the 10 top affordable regional areas across Australia by PRD Real Estate.
Greater Shepparton is listed just below Bendigo as Victoria’s best region for buying a home, with Campaspe Shire ninth.
PRD used affordability, property trends, investment opportunities, project development and unemployment rates to determine the most affordable areas which have “solid fundamentals” for future growth.
The report said Shepparton had experienced higher population growth of 3.9 per cent from 2016 to 2021, with unemployment in the September quarter of 2022 at 3.3 per cent.
“This is great news for the area, as it signals job growth and a healthy economy post COVID-19,” the report said.
The Greater Shepparton region has experienced 82 per cent growth for house prices, 123.6 per cent growth for vacant land, and 77.7 per cent for units over the past decade.
Houses (1019 sales) and units (165 sales) showed a decline in sales volume between 2021 and 2022; however, sales grew by 30.1 per cent for houses and 55.7 per cent for units in the past 10 years, the report said.
“Greater Shepparton’s property market saw an upwards trajectory for the past decade, with an undersupply in 2022,” it said.
“As of December 2022, investors in Greater Shepparton LGA benefited from average rental yields of 4.9 per cent for houses, which sits well above Melbourne metro (2.7 per cent).
“Units recorded an average rental yield of 6.1 per cent over the same period, sitting above Melbourne metro (4.1 per cent).”
The report said Shepparton’s vacancy rate of 0.7 per cent was a good sign for investors, who would be able to find rental tenants faster.
“With a much lower entry price compared to Melbourne metro and stronger rental returns, investors are encouraged to enter the market,” the report said.
However, the report said after a bumper year of sales in 2021 and 2022, “the amount of ready-to-sell new houses does not fully satisfy the market”, which while creating a buffer in the current high cash rate environment, wasn’t sustainable in the long term.