If you thought buying a house in Australia meant spending over a million dollars, think again. A news.com.au analysis of PropTrack data reveals 43 suburbs nationwide where the median house price is under $300,000.
These locations, mostly in regional areas, offer some of the lowest entry points in the market – though affordability often comes with caveats. Prices may be low due to weaker demand, falling populations, limited employment opportunities, or the closure of local industries such as mining.
The most affordable market is in the outback South Australian town of Coober Pedy, where the median house price is just $77,500. Known for its opal mines and underground homes built to escape the desert heat, Coober Pedy remains the cheapest place in the nation to buy.
From there, bargains stretch across several states. Charleville in Queensland’s outback has a median of $165,000, while houses in Coonamble in western NSW change hands for around $170,000. Tasmania’s Queenstown and Rosebery – both historic mining towns on the west coast – record medians of $180,000 and $188,000 respectively.
Some affordable regional centres continue to see healthy turnover. Broken Hill in far-west NSW, long popular with tree-changers and artists, recorded 464 house sales in the past year at a $200,000 median.
In South Australia, Whyalla Stuart (175 sales, median $208,000) and Port Augusta (206 sales, $258,750) remain active markets. Mining hubs such as Blackwater in Queensland and Roxby Downs in SA also appear on the list, with median prices in the mid-$200,000s.
A handful of affordable towns also carry unique connections. Condobolin in central NSW, with a $232,500 median, is famously the hometown of singer Shannon Noll, who shot to fame on Australian Idol in 2003.
Other towns of historic note include Longreach in Queensland ($250,000), home to Qantas’ first hangar, Townsville ($260,000), and Clermont ($280,000), a gold rush town in Queensland.
For investors, the appeal of these regional markets lies not only in low prices but also in strong rental yields.
Suburbs such as Ingham in North Queensland ($290,000), Wellington in NSW’s Orana region ($295,000), and St Arnaud in northwest Victoria ($290,000) are returning yields of 7% or higher — making them positively geared compared to many metro markets.
For brokers, these towns present niche lending opportunities, particularly for investors seeking affordable entry points and strong rental returns.
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