The best (and worst) performing regional areas for property around Australia

Home values and rents continued to rise across most of Australia’s 50 largest regional markets over the past three months, with median prices and weekly rents at record levels in many areas. Dwelling values across regional Australia as a whole rose by 2.1 percent over the three months to April, according to CoreLogic’s latest quarterly regional market update. This was the fastest rate of growth in nearly two years and outpaced the capital cities, which rose by 1.7 percent.

“After falling 5.8 percent between May 2022 and January 2023, regional home values have seen a slower recovery compared to capital city values but have now regained the losses from the downturn to reach a new record high,” said CoreLogic economist, Kaytlin Ezzy. Many regional markets experienced runaway price growth during the pandemic as thousands of people left the cities. Many of the markets that experienced the greatest growth went on to experience the largest corrections.

While regional values and rents overall are at a record high, only 19 of the 50 regions analysed have returned or surpassed their record medians at this point in the recovery. The best performing areas were mostly in Western Australia and Queensland, while the worst performers were on the NSW coast and southern highlands, and in Victoria. In terms of weekly rents, 37 of the 50 regions are at record highs and 47 recorded increases in rents over the past three months.

“Housing affordability has continued to deteriorate through the start of 2024 for tenants and prospective home buyers alike. The outlook for regional housing markets will heavily depend on demographic trends, housing supply, localised economic drivers and the outlook for interest rates,” Ms Ezzy said.

Here is a summary of 10 regional markets, incorporating some of the strongest and weakest areas.

Batemans Bay, NSW

The south coast town recorded the highest increase in weekly rents over the quarter. Rents rose 6 percent to a median $570 per week. Home values rose 0.4 percent over the quarter to $743,712. Vendors are being forced to discount their original selling prices in Batemans Bay more than any other regional area. The average rate of discounting is 6.5 percent. Over the past five years, home values have risen 47.4 percent and rents have increased by 34.8 percent.

Ballina, NSW

Home values remain 15.9 percent below their April 2022 peak, which is the largest decline among the 50 regional markets at present. The median home value rose 1.1 percent over the quarter to $957,767. Weekly rents increased by 1.7 percent to a median $740 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has soared 53.9 percent and weekly rents have lifted 35.5 percent.

Ballarat, VIC

Ballarat experienced the largest decline in home values over the three months to April. The median home price fell 2 percent to $541,815. Weekly rents increased by 0.4 percent to a median $425 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has increased 30.9 percent and weekly rents have risen 22.3 percent.

Shepparton – Mooroopna, VIC

Home values rose 1.3 percent over the quarter to $456,331. Weekly rents increased by 1.2 percent to a median $472 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has lifted 49.5 percent and weekly rents have accelerated 39 percent.

Geraldton, WA

Geraldton recorded the highest quarterly growth in home values of all 50 regions, up 8.8 percent to $394,251. Weekly rents increased by 3.6 percent to a median $475 per week. The rental yield is among the highest of the 50 regions at 6.2 percent. Over the past five years, the median home price has risen 61.4 percent and weekly rents have increased 54.6 percent.

Bunbury, WA

Bunbury recorded the fastest average selling time over the quarter at 14 days. It also had the second highest growth in weekly rents at 4.7% to a median $627 per week. Rents have been rising strongly for an extended period, with Bunbury recording the largest annual rise in rents at 16.4%. Home values rose 6.4 percent over the quarter to $576,979. Over the past five years, the median home price has leapt 68.3 percent and weekly rents have increased by 65.3 percent.

Busselton, WA

Busselton had the second-highest quarterly growth in home values of all 50 regions, up 7.7 percent to a median $812,050. It also recorded the second fastest selling times of the 50 regions at an average 16 days. Weekly rents increased by 2.8 percent to a median $723 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has leapt 68 percent and weekly rents have soared 60.3 percent.

Sunshine Coast, QLD

Home values rose 3.2 percent over the quarter to $1,019,013. Weekly rents increased by 4.4 percent to a median $766 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has grown strongly by 69.1 percent and weekly rents have lifted 46.8 percent.

Coastline at Dicky Beach in Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Australia

Rockhampton, QLD

Rockhampton is a very affordable market but strong demand amid high interest rates is seeing home values lift at a rapid rate. Home values rose 5.1 percent over the quarter to a median $442,962. Weekly rents rose by 2.4 percent to a median $498 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has skyrocketed 60.1 percent and weekly rents have charged 48 percent higher.

Launceston, TAS

Home values in Launceston rose 3.6 percent over the quarter to $534,227. Weekly rents increased by 2 percent to a median $491 per week. Over the past five years, the median home price has risen 56.7 percent and weekly rents have accelerated 33.5 percent.

Must even steak be politicised? The American Heart Association recently recommended eating more “plant-based” protein in a move to counter the Health and Human Services Department’s new guidelines calling for more red meat.

Few would argue that eating a Big Mac a day is good for you.

On the other hand, growing evidence, including a study last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that eating more meat—particularly unprocessed red meat—can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s in the quarter or so of people with a particular genetic predisposition.

The APOE4 gene variant is one of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer’s.

You inherit one copy of the APOE gene from each parent. The most common variant is APOE3; the least is APOE2.

The latter carries a lower risk of Alzheimer’s, while the former is neutral. A quarter of people carry one copy of the APOE4 variant, and about 2% carry two.

APOE4 is more common among people with Northern European and African ancestry. In Europe the variant increases with latitude, and is present in as many as 27% of people in northern countries versus 4% in southern ones. God smiled on the Italians and Greeks.

For unknown reasons, the APOE4 variant increases the risk of Alzheimer’s far more for women than men.

Women’s risk multiplies roughly fourfold if they have one copy and tenfold if they have two. Men with a single copy show little if any higher risk, while those with two face four times the risk.

What makes APOE4 so pernicious? Scientists don’t know exactly, but the variant is also associated with higher cholesterol levels—even among thin people who eat healthily.

Scientists have found that cholesterol builds up in brain cells of APOE4 carriers, which can disrupt communications between neurons and generate amyloid plaque, an Alzheimer’s hallmark.

The Heart Association’s recommendation to eat less red meat may be sound advice for people with high cholesterol caused by indulgent diets.

But a diet high in red meat may be better for the brains of APOE4 carriers.

In the JAMA study, researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute examined how diet, particularly meat consumption, affects dementia risk among seniors with the different APOE variants.

Higher consumption of meat, especially unprocessed red meat, was associated with significantly lower dementia risk for APOE4 carriers.

APOE4 carriers who consumed the most meat—the equivalent of 4.5 ounces a day—were no more likely to develop dementia than noncarriers. (

The study controlled for other variables that are known to affect Alzheimer’s risk including sex, age, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and education.)

APOE4 carriers who ate the most unprocessed meat were at significantly lower risk of dying over the study’s 15-year period and had lower cholesterol than carriers who ate less. Go figure. Noncarriers, however, didn’tenjoy similar benefits from eating more red meat.

The study’s findings are consistent with two large U.K. studies.

One found that each additional 50 grams of red meat (equivalent to half a hamburger patty) that an APOE4 carrier consumed each day was associated with a 36% reduced risk of dementia.

The other found that older women who carried the APOE4 variant and consumed at least one serving a day of unprocessed red meat had a cognitive advantage over carriers who ate less than half a serving, and that this advantage was of roughly equal magnitude to the cognitive disadvantage observed among APOE4 carriers in general.

In all three studies, eating more red meat appeared to negate the increased genetic risk of APOE4.

Perhaps one reason men with the variant are at lower Alzheimer’s risk than women is that men eat more red meat.

These findings might cause chagrin to women who rag their husbands about ordering the rib-eye instead of the heart-healthy salmon.

But remember, the cognitive benefits of eating more red meat appear isolated to APOE4 carriers.

Nutrition is complicated, and categorical recommendations—other than perhaps to avoid nutritionally devoid foods—would best be avoided by governments and health bodies.

Readers can order an at-home test from any number of companies to screen for the APOE4 variant.

The Swedish researchers hypothesize that APOE4 carriers may be evolutionarily adapted to carnivorous diets, since the variant is believed to have emerged between one million and six million years ago during a “hypercarnivorous” period in human history.

The other two APOE variants originated more recently, during eras when humans ate more plants.

APOE4 carriers may absorb more nutrients from meat than plants, the researchers surmise. Vitamin B12—low levels have been associated with cognitive decline—isn’t naturally present in plant-based foods but is abundant in red meat.

Foods high in phytates (such as grains and beans) can interfere with absorption of zinc and iron (also high in red meat), which naturally declines with age. So maybe don’t chuck your steak yet.