National Top 10: The Long Shots

A property investor with a crystal ball would have bought a house in the Queensland mining town of Moranbah a decade ago. Ten years ago, the typical Moranbah house fetched about $50,000. In 2012 buyers paid an average of $750,000. Values had grown at a rate of 31% a year.

In the WA regional town of Port Hedland, the median house price in 2002 was $193,000. Today it’s $1,050,000, because of the town’s relationship with the iron ore industry of the Pilbara region. If only you’d known.

But there are places around Australia where Moranbah growth rates may happen in the future, if something special happens. If a promised $3 billion mine happens, the small country town nearby will be transformed and its property values with it – but if the mine plans are scrapped, an investment property there will have little value.

These are “the Long Shots”, the places that investors should consider only if they have the financial capacity and willingness to take risks.

Right now there are locations around Australia where homes are cheap, but may be worth three or five times as much 10 years from now. This report suggests 10 possibilities.