Elise May joins an increasing number of young families from capital cities moving to Camperdown, attracted by its comparatively low house prices and array of amenities.
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Ms May said her tree-change from Melbourne to the small shire town was a no-brainer.
"I didn't expect to move here," she said.
"But one day my now-husband and I were driving around and spotted a house and decided to take a look.
"It was lovely and huge compared to what we could buy in the city.
"For us, we couldn't believe you could walk anywhere you want - you don't even need a car to live here.
"The hospital's around the corner, you've got all the schools and you can walk to the train station - the proximity of everything when you're in town is great.
"During COVID we had such great opportunities here in terms of not having to wait for our vaccinations which was amazing.
"Even now, if I take my kids out to the emergency department there's always a nurse there to see them any time of night and we don't have to wait.
"The doctors are on call however we still get that immediate attention and care.
"All those things as a family and parent you really value.
"Even the space - being able to buy a space like that for that price is amazing when you can only get a two-bedroom apartment in the city for the same amount.
"It's quite amazing in terms of lifestyle, the cost of living is so much cheaper down here too.
"You've got all the walking tracks and Mount Leura.
"You really need the space, but you've also got all the bits and pieces and features which work for a family."
With the shortage of available housing and surging demand in the area, the couple decided to buy an investment property, now listed for sale. Charles Stewart real estate agent Brian Rowbottom previously told The Standard the "land-locked" township couldn't keep up with record interest from out-of-towners.
"I had a property the other day where within three weeks I had 23 people inspect it," he said.
"I had about 30 inquiries too which is huge - I've never had that much interest in a place before and those people ranged from Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne and locally as well."
In June, The Standard also reported data from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria showed Corangamite Shire saw a 300 per cent increase in monthly auction sales from three in January to 12 in May.
REIV data also showed that house prices in the previous quarter rose 6.7 per cent to $430,000 in Camperdown.
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