Jacqui makes country property killing

Jacqui Crowther raises her eyebrows when asked whether she would consider moving to Perth. "I'm not a country girl but, no, I can't afford to live in the city," she said.

Yet, 20 minutes off the Great Northern Highway among the wheatfields of Calingiri, the 48-year-old and her husband, Mike, could be considered property tycoons.

Their latest three-bedroom, one-bathroom purchase means the couple now own about 8 per cent of the properties in the peaceful town, 150km north-east of Perth, where they set up a sheep-shearing business 14 years ago.

But, remarkably, they paid little more for their property portfolio than the median house price for a single home in Perth.

With a population of about 200, Calingiri is one of 23 WA towns with a median house price of less than $100,000, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of WA statistics.

Mr and Mrs Crowther's home might have needed some cosmetic attention, but for $80,000, their 1009sqm block is one they could only dream about in the city - where the median house price was $546,000 for the year to September.

"You'd have five houses on a block like this in Perth and it's not too far really," Mrs Crowther said. "It's a slow pace of life and it's not for everyone but it's a great place.

"It's much cheaper, you're part of a community and it's close enough to Perth that you can go shopping for a day and it's just a nice drive."

The pool for properties selling for an average below six figures appears to be shrinking.

REIWA's figures for the year to September show there are now 16 fewer towns where the median house price is less than $100,000, compared with two years ago.

But the Wheatbelt is still strongly represented in the list of towns where a house and land can be snapped up for a five- figure sum.

In the Great Southern, an hour's drive east of Katanning to Nyabing will likely uncover properties around $82,000 and for those willing to take the two-hour drive from Kalgoorlie to Norseman, the $25,000 median house price rivals the cost of a new car.

McMahon Real Estate agent Simon Emmitt said cheap properties in the country were being snapped up by investors looking to cash in on high rental yields.

Mr Emmitt said that while a handful were bought by people who wanted a tree change, at least 80 per cent were bought by investors in Perth and interstate.

"There's not much work and if there is work, it's generally low income but the demand on rents is high because people can't afford to buy," Mr Emmitt said.

"You won't see capital growth in the next 10 years but the cash flow is good.

"It's very common to find that for most of those homes out in the country the return is 10 or 11 per cent plus."

REIWA's Stewart Darby said home sales across WA had slowed dramatically over two years and many areas with median house prices below $100,000 were based on few sales.

Mr Darby said those looking for cheap homes in the country should also be aware the style of property was unlikely to be comparable to those in Perth.

"Yes, there are bargains in the country but the big risk is the nature of the property," he said.