Property killings to be made in the Pilbara boom!
WHEN governments spend big in an area, private money usually follows. For that reason, government decisions can be a major creator of real estate hotspots. The regional centres of Western Australia’s Pilbara region were real estate outperformers long before the state government decided to tip serious money into their infrastructure. But the expenditure, followed by the increasing involvement of private developers, will keep these markets active for many years.
Port Hedland and Karratha, the key regional centres of the Pilbara, have the most expensive housing markets in regional Australia. They are also the most remarkable because, while you can pay $800,000 for the average house, you can still earn a 10 per cent rental return, with typical rents topping $1600 a week.
The value of Karratha homes has grown an average 16-17 per cent a year over the past decade, which suggests values have been doubling every 4-5 years on average. It’s the same story in Port Hedland, where the median house price has grown from $190,000 to $835,000 in less than 10 years.
Article source – The Australian