Property Investors Look Further Afield For Opportunities

More investors are looking beyond the neighbourhoods they live in for investment opportunities after the pandemic property boom saw regional markets surge in value at a greater pace than the capital cities, as more people who could work from home left the cities for greener pastures.

McGrath Estate Agents CEO John McGrath said this regional relocation of owner-occupiers opened investors’ eyes to markets outside their own neighbourhoods. Changes in marketing and technology brought about due to lockdowns, such as video inspections, online auctions and signing contracts electronically, helped buyers feel more comfortable with purchasing property remotely. “The prospect of phone bidding and purchasing properties sight unseen is no longer foreign,” he said.

Data from MCG Quantity Surveyors proves that investors are exploring new markets for investment. The latest data for 2023 shows the average distance between where landlords live and invest has ballooned to 1,502km, up from 857km in 2022 and 294km before the pandemic.

MCG managing director, Mike Mortlock, said the data revealed two insights. “Firstly, property investors remain agile and will park their capital in whichever investor-friendly national location and asset type offers the greatest possibility of maximising their return,” he said. “The second is that Western Australia has become the centre of Australian property investment. There’s little doubt its popularity with real estate buyers from the East Coast has increased the gap between home and investment.” MCG data shows 31.86% of Australian property investors bought in Western Australia in the first quarter of 2023, up from just 9.38% in the first quarter of 2022, revealing “a seismic shift away from east coast property investment”, he said.

In 2023, CoreLogic data shows Perth and Regional Western Australia delivered the best total returns (rents and capital growth combined) for investors of all capital cities and regional areas in Australia. Perth’s total return was 20.7 percent and regional Western Australia’s was 14.8 percent. The best-performing regions were Mandurah and Bunbury with 20 percent and 15 percent jumps in home values respectively over the year. Rents in Perth and Regional Western Australia also increased faster than any other area in Australia, up by 13.4 percent and 10.4 percent respectively.

One of the main attractions of Western Australia to East Coast investors is affordability. The Perth house price median is $691,100 and the regional house price median is $398,915. McGrath Estate Agents CEO John McGrath said: “This move towards remote investing has largely been driven by the perception of better capital growth prospects in the regions, and higher rental yields that usually come with more affordable properties.” Investors in regional areas can usually afford to buy houses, which typically deliver better capital growth than apartments, and they can buy with smaller loans, meaning they can manage rising interest rates more easily.

PropTrack recently put together a panel of industry experts and asked them to create a list of 100 suburbs that they think will outperform in 2024. PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said 40 percent of the suburbs selected were in regional areas. PropTrak director of economic research Cameron Kusher said the selected regional areas were typically close to a capital city or had a diversified economy. “These tend to be key drivers in regional markets and reflect our expectations of the types of locations in regional areas likely to see the strongest price growth next year,” he said.

Here are some examples of the regional cities or suburbs tipped for outperformance in 2024.

NSW – Dubbo

Simon Pressley of Propertyology selects Dubbo. “Decades of official evidence supports Dubbo’s status as an extremely resilient and low risk option for property investors with a budget of up to $600,000,” Mr Pressley said.

VIC – Delacombe, Ballarat

Buyers’ agent Kate Hill from Adviseable says Delacombe is a fast-growing part of the Ballarat West Growth Area and offers strong capital growth potential and good yields. “Ballarat was recently identified by the ABS as the fastest growing inland city in Australia and, according to some forecasters, can expect more strong price growth,” she said.

QLD – Darling Heights, Toowoomba

Home to the University of Southern Queensland, Ms Hill says Darling Heights has a range of amenities and will benefit from Toowoomba’s involvement in the 2032 Olympics. “There is a massive program of infrastructure development underway, planning more than $13.1 billion of infrastructure and major projects, both private and public,” Ms Hill said.

SA – Victor Harbor

Mr Pressley says Victor Harbor is to Adelaide what the Sunshine Coast is to Brisbane. “It has one the highest rates of internal migration in the country. Very popular for the one in five Australians who now derive their income from home, and for retirees.”

WA – Mandurah

“Mandurah is the lifestyle capital of Western Australia because of everything it has to offer without the big price tag,” said Ray White Managing Director, Dan White. “When it comes to property, Mandurah offers something for everyone, from affordable options for first-home buyers to upmarket canal homes.”

TAS – Launceston

Mr Pressley says this regional city has a diverse economy and “one of the best lifestyle offerings in all of Australia”. “Over the last 20 years, the average annual capital growth rate for Launceston houses of 8.6 percent is far superior to Sydney and Melbourne. Rental yields are also superior.”

As Paris makes its final preparations for the Olympic games, its residents are busy with their own—packing their suitcases, confirming their reservations, and getting out of town.

Worried about the hordes of crowds and overall chaos the Olympics could bring, Parisians are fleeing the city in droves and inundating resort cities around the country. Hotels and holiday rentals in some of France’s most popular vacation destinations—from the French Riviera in the south to the beaches of Normandy in the north—say they are expecting massive crowds this year in advance of the Olympics. The games will run from July 26-Aug. 1.

“It’s already a major holiday season for us, and beyond that, we have the Olympics,” says Stéphane Personeni, general manager of the Lily of the Valley hotel in Saint Tropez. “People began booking early this year.”

Personeni’s hotel typically has no issues filling its rooms each summer—by May of each year, the luxury hotel typically finds itself completely booked out for the months of July and August. But this year, the 53-room hotel began filling up for summer reservations in February.

“We told our regular guests that everything—hotels, apartments, villas—are going to be hard to find this summer,” Personeni says. His neighbours around Saint Tropez say they’re similarly booked up.

As of March, the online marketplace Gens de Confiance (“Trusted People”), saw a 50% increase in reservations from Parisians seeking vacation rentals outside the capital during the Olympics.

Already, August is a popular vacation time for the French. With a minimum of five weeks of vacation mandated by law, many decide to take the entire month off, renting out villas in beachside destinations for longer periods.

But beyond the typical August travel, the Olympics are having a real impact, says Bertille Marchal, a spokesperson for Gens de Confiance.

“We’ve seen nearly three times more reservations for the dates of the Olympics than the following two weeks,” Marchal says. “The increase is definitely linked to the Olympic Games.”

Worried about the hordes of crowds and overall chaos the Olympics could bring, Parisians are fleeing the city in droves and inundating resort cities around the country.
Getty Images

According to the site, the most sought-out vacation destinations are Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique, a seaside region in the northwest; le Var, a coastal area within the southeast of France along the Côte d’Azur; and the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the Olympics haven’t necessarily been a boon to foreign tourism in the country. Many tourists who might have otherwise come to France are avoiding it this year in favour of other European capitals. In Paris, demand for stays at high-end hotels has collapsed, with bookings down 50% in July compared to last year, according to UMIH Prestige, which represents hotels charging at least €800 ($865) a night for rooms.

Earlier this year, high-end restaurants and concierges said the Olympics might even be an opportunity to score a hard-get-seat at the city’s fine dining.

In the Occitanie region in southwest France, the overall number of reservations this summer hasn’t changed much from last year, says Vincent Gare, president of the regional tourism committee there.

“But looking further at the numbers, we do see an increase in the clientele coming from the Paris region,” Gare told Le Figaro, noting that the increase in reservations has fallen directly on the dates of the Olympic games.

Michel Barré, a retiree living in Paris’s Le Marais neighbourhood, is one of those opting for the beach rather than the opening ceremony. In January, he booked a stay in Normandy for two weeks.

“Even though it’s a major European capital, Paris is still a small city—it’s a massive effort to host all of these events,” Barré says. “The Olympics are going to be a mess.”

More than anything, he just wants some calm after an event-filled summer in Paris, which just before the Olympics experienced the drama of a snap election called by Macron.

“It’s been a hectic summer here,” he says.

Hotels and holiday rentals in some of France’s most popular vacation destinations say they are expecting massive crowds this year in advance of the Olympics.
AFP via Getty Images

Parisians—Barré included—feel that the city, by over-catering to its tourists, is driving out many residents.

Parts of the Seine—usually one of the most popular summertime hangout spots —have been closed off for weeks as the city installs bleachers and Olympics signage. In certain neighbourhoods, residents will need to scan a QR code with police to access their own apartments. And from the Olympics to Sept. 8, Paris is nearly doubling the price of transit tickets from €2.15 to €4 per ride.

The city’s clear willingness to capitalise on its tourists has motivated some residents to do the same. In March, the number of active Airbnb listings in Paris reached an all-time high as hosts rushed to list their apartments. Listings grew 40% from the same time last year, according to the company.

With their regular clients taking off, Parisian restaurants and merchants are complaining that business is down.

“Are there any Parisians left in Paris?” Alaine Fontaine, president of the restaurant industry association, told the radio station Franceinfo on Sunday. “For the last three weeks, there haven’t been any here.”

Still, for all the talk of those leaving, there are plenty who have decided to stick around.

Jay Swanson, an American expat and YouTuber, can’t imagine leaving during the Olympics—he secured his tickets to see ping pong and volleyball last year. He’s also less concerned about the crowds and road closures than others, having just put together a series of videos explaining how to navigate Paris during the games.

“It’s been 100 years since the Games came to Paris; when else will we get a chance to host the world like this?” Swanson says. “So many Parisians are leaving and tourism is down, so not only will it be quiet but the only people left will be here for a party.”