Paradise is cheaper than you think: You can now buy a beach unit in the Whitsundays for just $80,000 - and other dreamy holiday destinations have homes for $60,000
Queensland's tropical Whitsunday has coastal units available for less than $80,000 while Australia's cheapest towns have houses for just $60,000.
Real estate data group CoreLogic has revealed the regional areas where it's possible to buy a home for less than the price of a new four-wheel drive, and some of them are in surprisingly pleasant areas near idyllic beaches.
When it came to apartments Laguna Quays, near Hamilton Island in north Queensland's Whitsunday region, has Australia's cheapest median unit price of $76,123.
For that price, it is possible to buy an apartment near a resort and a golf course.
Australia's cheapest towns have median house prices of less than $60,000 while Queensland's tropical Whitsunday has units available for just $80,000. Pictured is a holiday unit at Dolphins Heads in Mackay selling for just $60,000
When it came to apartments Laguna Quays, near Hamilton Island in north Queensland's Whitsunday region, has Australia's cheapest median unit price of $76,123. Pictured is a two-bedroom unit selling for $80,000
Nearby Dolphin Heads, in Mackay's northern suburbs, has Australia's second cheapest median apartment price of $93,996.
A one-bedroom holiday unit is on sale for just $60,000 but it is only available for holiday leasing and not as a permanent place to live.
Tropical far Queensland is particularly affordable for those who want to buy near the beach with Woree in Cairns having a median unit price of just $139,698.
For those after an inland bargain and a backyard, the town of Norseman on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain, 700km east of Perth, in November had Australia's cheapest median house price of $58,582.
For those after a bargain and a backyard, the town of Norseman on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain, 700km east of Perth, in November had Australia's cheapest median house price of $58,582. Pictured is a three-bedroom house selling for $60,000
Buyers wanting a backyard on the other side of the country could consider the New South Wales central west town of Ungarie, which has Australia's fourth cheapest median house price of $65,847.
When it came to cheap real estate, Western Australia dominated the list of towns with ultra-affordable houses, taking out seven of the top ten places, with South Cross in the Wheat Belt ($61,186), outback Three Springs ($65,514) and the mining town of Kalgoorlie ($124,429) on the list.
Queensland took out seven of the top ten spots for very cheap apartments, with the Darling Downs towns of Miles ($125,303) and Chinchilla ($130,583) on the list along with the liquefied natural gas city of Gladstone with median prices of $136,000.
Regional areas are still cheap despite the ability of more Australians to be able to work from home.
The New South Wales central west town of Ungarie, which has Australia's fourth cheapest median house price of $65,847. Pictured is a one-bedroom house selling for $55,000
CoreLogic's head of research in Australia Eliza Owen said country areas had done a little better than the big capital cities in 2020.
'The relative popularity of lifestyle markets is evident in our report, and regional Australia out-performed the combined capital cities market,' she said.
Regional property prices as of November climbed by an annual pace of 5.7 per cent compared with 2.4 per cent when capital city home prices were combined.
'This divergence in performance can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the new found popularity of remote working, but also less of a demand shock across regional Australia caused by border closures, and the relative affordability of regional Australian dwellings,' CoreLogic's Best of the Best 2020 report said.
Western Australia had seven towns in the top ten for Australia's most affordable houses
Queensland was the home of Australia's seven most affordable places to buy an apartment