Let’s get right to the point. Property in Australia doesn’t come for cheap.
As some of you might already know, even though it is a huge continent, most of the population lives only on the coast. And land in those areas is out of reach for most people.
The coast has all the glimmer and glamour. It houses all the big cities of the country and the center of the continent is nothing but a massive desert.
Featured Image via Gez Xavier Mansfield@gezxaviermansfield
This creates a steep difference in the price of land only over a few kilometers. While Sydney’s land price can be as high as a thousand US dollars for a square meter, just a few kilometers it can only cost you a couple of cents for a square meter of land.
This isn’t some magic or big real estate scheme. The logic is simple, Sydney is Sydney. All the facilities, the lifestyle, the area and the vicinity to vital necessities count. But with a booming economy and the fact that there is no more room in the coasts, this scenario is about to change.
Where Cheap or Free Land Can Be Found? | Free Land in Australia
What’s the current scenario?
The government and the people of Australia want more development in the innards of the country and now have the ability and necessity to span its population into the deeper regions of the continent.
This opens up an avenue of free or cheap land in Australia that will someday be a part of expensive Megacities like Melbourne and Sydney. We are just at the right time and right place to witness a boom in evaluations of properties in that region.
A smart investor would take this as an opportunity, and if you are here reading this article then you are probably one of them. You, of course, want to find some of these golden lands in Australia and have begun your search here on the internet.
But looking up for places like these can be a tedious task. So, we’ve come up with some places and lots throughout Australia where you should keep your eyes on.
This guide is not to list definitive plot lands [although, we’ve listed good examples that are up for sale] but to hint you where to look for.
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Tasmania
Tasmania is an island state of Australia. Being a separate landmass, it didn’t see as much of development as Australia’s mainland did.
But that is changing now. With the population surging in mainland’s coastal areas, the Tasmanian province is witnessing a revamp in its housing and settlement real estate sector.
We are not late to the party though, the projects are relatively new but promising.
Many companies are even doing full-time renovation and home building work which appreciates the value of the house greatly like 5-Star Builders, which has been operating for over 5 years now. They are one of the most successful builders in Sydney and other major cities.
Towns in Tasmania are even now well equipped with good roads, schooling, medical care, and there are many promising projects happening as I write this. Because of that, people are already flocking in the state.
There are some mid-range housing projects with establishments already present that you can buy property and land in, but the most attractive offers are the ones that are just starting out.
Image via David Clode@davidclode
Current Listing Example
Tasmania proves to be of great promise and it has tons of free land and cheap property if you are willing to invest now. This kind of growth is not volatile or unexpected. Most provinces in Australia saw a similar kind of trend in history.
With this confidence, I started to look for lands I could find in Tasmania which are dirt cheap and show some good promise. I came across many areas through my research.
One of such areas is the Grenfern region in Tasmania. The piece of land I am talking about costs about 50 cents per square meter which is dirt cheap compared to something like Sydney ($1000 per square meter) or the next most expensive city Perth ($700 per square meter).
It is a part of the New Norfolk establishment and is about 50 kilometers away from the Hobart CBD. Many nearby land areas in Grenfern are envisioned as development projects by building companies. Land pricing there is expected to soon rise in value as there’s a significant number of prospective buyers.
Since it serves as such an excellent investment opportunity, it seems like a no-brainer to me. The driveway is already graveled and the land has cleared house site.
I am only laying this example of a 13 hectares investment window only to signify how mind-bogglingly low the prices can be, even with such a huge green light on development. Whatever your reasons might be looking for property in Australia, this is a must-have.
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New South Wales
New South Wales is not new to development like Tasmania. Its state capital is Sydney – one of the most iconic and wealthiest cities of Australia.
Land prices in the coastal region of the state are off the charts. Even to get a decent piece of land in or around bay cities can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But away from the glimmer and high price of the coastal cities of NSW, lies the interiors of the state, where the land is sold off for cheap or for settlement contracts to develop the state further into the main landmass. The situation is similar to what I have mentioned before.
Some of the projects in NSW go so cheap that you can pick up a block worth of land just for $15,000 or so. Although the piece of land might not seem interesting at the first look, it’s sure to appreciate in value in the coming years because of the new neighborhood projects popping in and the government pouring money in such projects.
The properties are spread all across the western region of New South Wales – from Helensburgh to Euabalong. You just have to choose a pick and a deal that seems nice to you.
Image via Ghiffari Haris@ghiffariharis
Current Listing Example
One example that I have dug up is a land property that I found in Mudgee, NSW. The 10-hectare land property that I am looking at is listed for $29,950 on a real estate site of Australia. If we do the Maths right then it’s just 30 cents per square meter.
It is just 4 hours from Newcastle. That may not sound so promising but the indication has the surrounding township will grow exponentially in the coming years. Mudgee is already a township with all the basic amenities sorted.
All the other plots I’ve looked in the state look promising as well. Although most of the properties are not very habitable yet but has great promise, I did find some neighborhood projects which might be of interest if you are looking for a house that you can move into now.
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Victoria
Victoria lies at the bottom right of the map. It is at the bottom of New South Wales and is a beautiful state of the more active southern region of Australia. Most of the population living in the state are concentrated at the area surrounding the Port Phillip Bay.
It is a beautiful province with some of the most breathtaking coasts that the entire country boasts, including the famous city – Melbourne. Living in Melbourne is really expensive because it houses the majority of the population.
It’s so ridiculous that this year the prices even made headlines. It’s so pricey that the cost to build a home even in the suburbs can make you shell out over $300,000. In 2022 alone, it is expected to rise over 41%. Obviously, it makes housing in Melbourne inaccessible to most.
But now, Victoria is trying to develop the inner regions of the state following the surge of building projects in the entire country. Of course, that means that we have some golden investment opportunities in the state.
Many realtors are flocking to the remote places as they smell a huge increase in customers in the region. I mean, who can blame them? Seeing the price of housing in Melbourne, it explains why people are looking for further away places to settle in. It is just a matter of common sense.
By the looks of it, it shouldn’t even take half a decade before some of the major settlement projects complete. That means a mass of population flocking in new townships and major growth in the evaluation of the property that can be bought for dirt cheap right now.
Current Listing Example
I dug up one such example in Victoria, Cape Clear.
Cape Clear is a sleepy farming village. But don’t let that fool you. It is one of the hottest new places destined for big projects and a huge surge in population.
Cape Clear is not remote or inaccessible. It is located close to Ballarat. It is just 30-minute drive away from the city and it’s just about an hour away from Geelong – one of the biggest cities of the state.
This makes Cape Clear be a clear winner of the investment opportunity competition. The estimated land price in Cape Clear varies from $1.96 to $2.20 per square meter. Of course, that is dirt compared to the price of land in Melbourne.
One thing that makes this land so attractive to me is how accessible the nearby cities are. If you want a life of quiet and peace then it’s not just a great investment window but a great lifestyle for you as well.
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Queensland
Queensland lies on the northern side of the country and happens to be one of the most crowded provinces. Cities like Brisbane and Gold Coast bear millions of people, enjoying the beautiful lifestyle the cities have to offer.
Brisbane is the third most populous city in the country. Not only that but Queensland has three of the most populous cities of the entire country, namely, Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast.
With such a magnanimous population, the price of a new house or land in Brisbane has skyrocketed to the unaffordable territory for everyone except the wealthiest. Even getting a house in the suburbs can cost you more than $500,000.
The story remains the same in other cities of the state as well. Many of the real estate homes in Gold Coast would cost more than a million dollars. Still, that is not surprising given the quality of lifestyle, the neighborhood, and all the facilities you can avail.
But now that the coastal cities are blistering with life and bear heavy population, the population is trying to shift more inwards for a more affordable lifestyle.
It may seem impossible to get a piece of usable land in Queensland after looking at the prices in Brisbane or Gold Coast. But in the interior of Queensland, you can get properties for dirt cheap prices. It boggles my mind to look at the steep drop the prices take over just a few kilometers.
Image via Gilles Rolland-Monnet@gillesrollandmonnet
Current Listing Example
There are many promising lands in Queensland, which can prove to be some of the best investment opportunities. One such example would be Tara where you can get land for as cheap as 18 cents per square meter.
Tara already has a hospital and a train station, and according to the listing, is equipped with phone and power lines.
Looking up properties in Tara online, I found one that is 12-hectare big and is just 2 hours of drive away from Toowoomba. And this huge mass of land is up for sale only for $22,000.
Obviously, it’s not yet fit for living for many but we’d not be surprised that in half a decade this will be a full-blown township by looking at the rate of progress. What this stands to be right now is an amazing investment window. This price of land is destined to rise multiple folds in the coming years.
I’m just providing an example here. People must have already taken hold of that property by the time you are reading this, but that doesn’t mean that all the options are gone. Queensland has dozens of such land listings and as I write, more are bound to come up.
So, if you are looking for the cheap property then you can as well keep a look at Queensland.
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Western Australia
Till now we have been talking about the more crowded states of the country where you can still find great deals on land. But now we are going to channel our inner miners and discuss the situation in Western Australia.
It is the largest state in Australia and still inhabits only 11% of the total population. Most of the people live in the south-western region of the state. Around 79% of the population of the state lives in Perth and the region surrounding it.
As you might already know, Perth is not only a crown jewel of Western Australia, but it’s also one of the most important cities in the whole continent. It is also the second most expensive city to live in.
We began the discussion of Western Australia with Perth because we needed to understand the situation. Now that the southwestern region is so overcrowded, the population and realtors are looking to move more towards the interiors of the state.
Of course, that boils down to one question. Whether or not there is some deal we should peek at? The answer to that is YES! Thousand times yes! Let me give you an idea with an example.
Image via Josh Spires@drone_nr
Current Listing Example
And that simple example would be Quairading. It is just 2 hours of drive away from Perth and comes in close vicinity to the township of Badjaling.
You are also close to the town of Quairading where you can find a library, a swimming pool, and a supermarket.
That may not sound too much, but it is the promise that we are looking for. Of course, with this vicinity to prime townships and to Perth itself means that there are big projects on their way to revamp this town and build thousands of houses.
This 34 hectares of land in Quairading comes for only 21 cents a square meter. Compare that to $700 per square meter in Perth. And soon it’ll be like that. Of course, that’s why it’s such an exciting investment option.
Many of the new Australian cities started in a similar fashion. With little to nothing at first and then people flocking in to get cheaper accommodation. At this moment we are witnessing a very similar pattern.
Final Words
So, that’ll be it. A brief of the condition in all the states regarding cheap or free land. These examples are all up for sales at the time of writing.
But we used these examples just to paint the picture of how attractive these investment opportunities are.
The situation is simple. As coastal cities are getting more crowded, people are swarming to the innards of the country. Because of that, the realtors and builders are building new settlement projects all over the place, which in turn means that the land prices will skyrocket in the coming times.
But, luckily, as of now, they are cheap and/or free. You just have to look for the opportunity and take it.
Great read, thanks.