Seven Victorian suburbs where its cheaper to buy than rent

The clever tactic has made Rochester, a short drive from Echuca, one of the seven rural areas where homeowners can pay less for their mortgage than they would on rent.

Analysis by Mortgage Choice shows buying a $350,000 typical home in the suburb will come out $350 a month better off than if you were to spend $450 a week on rent.

Ray White Rochester principal Stuart Wilson added that even with a further $60,000-$80,000 spend needed to fix the home up, he’d recently had a first-home buyer snap up a stripped-back unit for $190,000 in what they had seen as “value for money”.

59 Edward St, Rochester is on the market with a $295k price tag.

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You may need to bring your own floor, and half a wall.

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A growing number of local builders are also taking on the challenge of refitting the homes, damaged when Rochester was hit with the town’s worst floods on record in 2022, and renting them out with hopes the town would be in high demand again as soon as Christmas.

Mr Wilson said by stripping back the interiors buyers could see that the bones of the home were sound, and that was giving them more confidence to make a purchase.

Also up for sale in the same street is 7 Edward St, Rochester.

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… but also, BYO floor.

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With Echuca, where the median house price is more than $600,000, about a 20-minute drive away Mr Wilson said there was a growing number of buyers heading to Rochester for a more affordable option — and it was getting close to turning the town’s fortunes around.

“If we can get through this next spring, by Christmas we will be up and about,” Mr Wilson said.

Buyers hoping to get a mortgage that costs less than rent are also flocking to Ouyen.

3 Cooper St, Ouyen has an asking price of $199k-$218k.

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PropTrack data shows the town once famous for a vanilla slice contest has a typical house price of just $184,350, while the median rent is $338 a week.

Mortgage Choice has calculated that this means you’re $500 a month better off owning a home than paying rent.

Ray White Mildura’s Brett Driscoll sells homes in Ouyen and said not only was it cheaper to buy than rent, but most people in the area “knock out their mortgage quite a few years early”.

“Owner occupiers are buying up quite a few homes in the area as it does make better sense than paying rent there,” Mr Driscoll said.

“And a lot of the people who bought before the pandemic would now own their home outright.”

While it might take a little longer to match the fete today, with prices having doubled in the past five years, the agent said it was still very possible — and there were even a number of people in the town who had bought during the lockdown era and loved the rural lifestyle, though most buyers were coming from within a few hours distance or were investors.

63 Queen St, Rochester is on the market for $399,000.

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The home has recently been renovated/

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The Mortgage Choice figures show it’s also possible to pay less on a house’s mortgage, though by smaller margins, in Warracknabeal, Dimboola, Mooroopna, St Arnaud and, for units, in Benalla.

Mortgage Choice CEO Anthony Waldron said for some it might be savvier to get out of the rental market sooner in one of these towns, than continuing to save and pay a lease at the same time.

“With your own property, you’re building on your financial position and paying off your own asset, rather than your landlord’s mortgage,” Mr Waldron said.

“That said, it’s important to note that buying property may involve costs outside of the mortgage such as stamp duty, legal fees and strata.”

He added that home loan interest rates were likely to remain stable in the near future, though PropTrack forecasts indicate rents will continue to climb.