This is my take: Avoid appartments, avoid buying in WA (high unemployment), aviod buying a house with massive vendor discount (i.e. like -18% discount, it tells you something about the socio-economy status of that area, scarry), don't be tempted to gamble your $500 in junior stock (it could halve in few moths).
Stick to Melb & Syd. It has massive population to sustain the house price. 90,000 people on public housing waiting list in Mel alone, growing by 500 per day.
You could look for townhouses or single garage home in growth sattelite areas like: Officer, Caroline springs, South Morang, Point Cook for around $500k+
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