REGIONAL AREAS CLOSE TO CAPITAL CITIES
The pandemic sparked a regional property boom , driven by : a search for space , stronger demand for holiday homes , and of course changes to the way we work . As life slowly gets back to normal , demand for regional properties will settle down and price growth is unlikely to be so red hot . Nevertheless , there are many regional areas that will continue to see positive conditions and those are the areas located close to capital cities .
Prior to the pandemic , regional areas close to capital cities were already seeing strong growth . Places like the Illawarra , Geelong , Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast were achieving house price growth far in excess of the capital city average . Significant government infrastructure investment was taking place and this flowed through to population growth . Affordability relative to the closest capital city was attractive to younger people .
As we ’ ve seen in the most recent Federal Budget , investment to regional areas is continuing and connectivity in such as fast rail and better roads is a major focus . It ’ s unlikely that price growth in 2022 will be the same as last year , however , with continued investment in livability , these areas will continue to be highly desirable for owner-occupiers , investors and renters .
16