QUEENSLAND has four of the top ten areas in Australia tipped to outperform the rest of the general property market.
The latest Top 10 Best Buys report by property analyst 
Terry Ryder of hotspotting.com.au, tips Emerald/Galilee Basin, Ipswich, the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba as the markets to watch.
He said all four were considered to have the drivers which would achieve capital growth above the norm in the near future.
Mr Ryder said the Sunshine Coast market, which had struggled in recent years, was set to achieve some growth for the first time in five years.
“Having previously been hampered by a struggling tourism economy, an oversupply of dwellings and poor affordability, the coast is heading into a new growth phase,” he said.
“We are actually seeing a number of markets which are tourism based such as Cairns, Hervey Bay, the Whitsundays and Sunshine Coast, are now starting to come back,” he said.
The Sunshine Coast was being helped by multiple factors, the tourism industry was stronger, the market was more balanced in terms of supply and demand, and recent price drops had made it more affordable.
Fly in, fly out, workers were settling on the Sunshine Coast and most importantly there is major infrastructure being built there.
Nothing generates property price growth like major new infrastructure, which generates jobs, economic activity and improved amenity for residents,” he said.
“We believe the best part of the Sunshine Coast for investors to consider is the southern precinct from Kawana south to Caloundra.
“This is where most of the key new infrastructure is being built.”
Mr Ryder had highlighted the Sunshine Coat five years ago as a “no go zone” an area not to invest in, but he said the fundamentals had now turned around.
Although the property market in Emerald and the Galilee Basin area were currently in temporary decline, Mr Ryder believed the amount of future infrastructure spending for the area as a result of the mining industry would soon turn that around.
“There is anything up to eight or nine big coal mining projects (for the area) proposed, you only need one or two of those to happen for Emerald to have a big lift,” he said.
There is going to be good buying opportunities now if you believe in the future of Emerald as we do.’
Ipswich was selected as it is considered one of the growth corridors of southeast Queensland and has experienced strong population growth, with about 5000 new residents added every year.
Prices rose strongly in the five years to 2009 (before tapering of) giving the suburbs of Ipswich City the strongest capital growth averages in the Greater Brisbane region,” he said.
“Big infrastructure developments include the $2.8 billion upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway and the $1.5 billion rail link to the Springfield master planned community,” he said.
He said many suburbs were still very affordable in Ipswich with East Ipswich, including suburbs such as Booval, Eastern Heights and Silkstone, one of the most “under rated precincts” in the area.
Toowoomba was identified in the report because it was one of Australia’s strongest regional centres and it benefited from a diverse local economy and closeness to the Surat Basin resources province.
“We particularly like places like Toowoomba that get some benefit from the resources sector but don’t depend on it,” he said.
“Toowoomba has plenty of affordable investment options, a recent survey ranked the city the most affordable place in Queensland, relative to total incomes.’
National top ten best buys 2013-2014
Albury-Wodonga
Dubbo
Emerald/Galilee Basin
Ipswich
Kwinana precinct
Midland precinct
Palmerston
Rockingham
Sunshine Coast
Toowoomba
source: hotspotting.com.au
Original article published at www.news.com.au by Michelle Hele The Courier Mail 18/7/2013
