HOUSING prices across Wangaratta have more than doubled over the past decade, rising from a median price of $253,500 in 2014 to $526,000 in June of this year, according to Domain.

Wangaratta’s 107.5 per cent median property price increase is part of a string of Victorian regional local government areas (LGAs), including Alpine (171.8 per cent), Mansfield (107.4 per cent), Indigo (140.7 per cent) and Strathbogie (123.1 per cent), whose median home prices have more than doubled since 2014.

Owner of Insite Real Estate, Angelo Pomponio, said the prices in Wangaratta are consistent with the rest of the state after the spike experienced over COVID.

“I think that’s just the natural progression in property prices, but Wangaratta still holds their prices pretty steadily and it’s been fairly consistent over a long period of time,” he said.

“Our medium house price in Wangaratta right now is around $500,000, pre-COVID it was around $300,000, but that’s not just Wangaratta, that’s happened everywhere."

According to Domain, the price increase in regional LGAs is greatly due to people from larger cities, like Melbourne, looking for a change of lifestyle over COVID.

While house prices have increased in regional areas, Mr Pomponio said this won’t make these areas any less attractive to those looking for a tree change as prices are, for the most part, lower than what can be found in major cities.

“Melbourne prices have also gone up, so they still see areas like Wangaratta as cheaper options,” he said.

“People can still sell in these major cities and buy something pretty decent for about half the price they sold for.”

While Mr Pomponio said he expects the prices to continue to rise, he doesn’t expect any massive spikes comparable to what we experienced in COVID, based on activity within the last 12 months.

“I think everything now is starting to get back to pre-COVID growth,” he said.

Mr Pomponio said he still thinks there’s value in Wangaratta, as people can still get a good home at the median price, and that it is currently a great market for investors as there aren’t many rentals available.

“There’s such a shortage of rentals in Wangaratta, so there’s a terrific opportunity for investors as far as having consistent tenancies and rental prices are still very strong,” he said.

Alternatively, Mr Pomponio said building is also a viable option locally, as there are plenty of land options.

“There's a bit of land coming up in Wangaratta so that’s another avenue for people if they don’t want to buy established,” he said.

“Buyers have got more choices of land in Wangaratta than they’ve had in a little while.”