The great Aussie dream of buying a house is alive, for sea and tree-changers.

NEW government-funded analysis by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) shows the regions where families can combine value for money and competitive incomes.

The Good Life Guide allows people to compare lifestyles factors in Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Australia.,

The metrics include median income, median home price, the price to income ratio when purchasing a home, how economically diverse the region is, and its distance from the coast and national parks.

RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie says the data enables users to explore what a ‘good life’ could look like in another part of the country. 

“The Good Life Guide highlights that many people can earn a comfortable living outside of Australia’s biggest cities, as well as get on a realistic path to home-ownership,” said Ms Ritchie.

“In many regional communities you can earn a similar if not larger income than in a metropolitan area and find more affordable housing.”

In the City of Canterbury-Bankstown in Sydney, the median home price is $981,000, which is 17.4 times the median income of just over $56,000, according to Ms Ritchie.

In the New South Wales regional city of Tamworth, where the median income is around $60,000 and the median home price is $500,000, you’re looking at a price-to-income ratio of 8.3 – that’s a big difference.

In Melbourne’s City of Monash, the median price of a property is $1.2 million, a touch over 20 times the local median income.

In regional Victoria’s Greater Shepparton, a little over 200km away, the median home price is around $466,000 with a price-to-income ratio less than half of that in Monash, at 8.1. 

Ms Ritchie said the data contained within the Good Life Guide shows there are dozens of areas across regional Australia, where the median home price is $500,000 or under. These include:-

• Cassowary Coast, QLD ($335,000)
• Mackay, QLD ($460,00)
• Western Downs, QLD ($308,000)
• Tamworth, NSW ($500,000)
• Parkes, NSW ($465,000)
• Federation, NSW ($470,000)
• Mildura, VIC ($405,000)
• Greater Shepparton, VIC ($466,000)
• Latrobe, VIC ($395,000)
• Devonport, TAS ($488,000)
• Mount Gambier, SA ($457,000)
• Esperance, WA ($400,000)
• Greater Geraldton, WA ($373,750)
• Katherine, NT ($379,000)

Ms Ritchie said while there are good opportunities to buy homes in the regions, the movement of people into regional Australia has led to emerging housing shortages.

“Regional Australia is not homogenous. Whilst many areas have available housing, other places do need more properties to keep up with demand,” Ms Ritchie added.

“But to build those homes we need skilled workers, and to train those skilled workers, they need access to education institutions.

“We need to look at these issues holistically to ensure the regions, which are now home to nearly 9.8 million people, have the infrastructure, services and support they need to thrive.

“In this year alone, more than 70,000 jobs have been advertised online across regional Australia each month, many of them professional roles.

“We cannot address these workforce shortages without addressing housing challenges. 

“The National Housing Accord has a target of 1.2 million new houses, and it is imperative regional Australia’s allocation is proportionate to the population residing outside of major metropolitan centres, ideally up to 40%.

“There is even more of an impetus for governments, industry, businesses and communities to work on solutions to these issues given the vitally important role regional Australia will play in our nation’s transition to net zero and the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia policy. 

“The future will be made in regional Australia – but it cannot and will not happen without adequate foundations, and the time to lay them is now.”