Unearthed: The regional areas ripe for investment
Strong yields make these ‘secondary cities’ attractive options
2 min
New analysis has revealed some of Australia’s most promising non-capital city property investment markets, where would-be buyers can find relatively affordable opportunities.
Real estate analytics firm Suburbtrends looked at secondary cities within 200km of a capital and applied more than a dozen key metrics to unearth suburbs that deliver a minimum 4.5 per cent yield.
Kent Lardner, Suburbtrends’ chief analyst, said the research took into account rental affordability, location, socio-economic ranking, price growth, inventory levels and vacancy rates.
That criteria narrowed the search to four regions – Bunbury and Mandurah in Western Australia, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
“Bunbury boasts the highest count of suburbs making the cut at 12, as well as the most listings available, most house options and the best median yield at 6.2 per cent,” Mr Lardner said.
“This combination of factors portrays Bunbury as an attractive market for both investors and
potential homebuyers.”
Among the suburbs identified was Binningup, which provides a strong market for house investments – with seven currently on the market at a median price of $499,000 and a rental median of $550 per week, yielding a very healthy 7.94 per cent.
College Grove was also a strong pick, with four houses currently on the market at a median price of $492,000 and a rental median of $510 per week, yielding 5.89 per cent.
“Bunbury stood out in our analysis, not just for its gateway status to the southwest region but for the balance it offers between liveability and investment appeal,” Mr Lardner said.
“Its unique characteristics align well with our criteria, making it a significant highlight in our shortlist.”
Meanwhile, the analysis produced 11 suburbs on the Gold Coast that fit the bill – a region that “excels in rental market dynamics”.
Among them was Bundall, a popular spot for investors. There are currently 12 units available at a median price of $557,000, yielding 5.76 per cent.
A few hours up the road, the Sunshine Coast was another strong performer in the analysis with a host of qualities that indicate a “mature and stable property market”.
Among the picks was the suburb of Wurtulla, which stood out for its unit prospects with four apartments on the market at a median price of $645,000, yielding 4.71 per cent.
Mr Lardner said Buderim was also on the list, with 27 units for sale at a median price of $585,000, yielding 4.85 per cent.
Finally, Mandurah produced four suburbs that fit the research scope, including Halls Head, where there are 64 houses on the market with a median price of $565,600, yielding 4.84 per cent.
The suburb also made the list for units, with eight up for grabs at the moment with a median price of $400,000 and a rental median of $500 per week, yielding 6.91 per cent.”
Mr Lardner said the research offers “a multifaceted perspective” on the current state of the property market in key non-capital locations.
“It’s a snapshot that reveals trends, opportunities, and challenges, providing practical guidance for both investors and homebuyers.”
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
A new AI-driven account by leading landscape architect Jon Hazelwood pushes the boundaries on the role of ‘complex nature’ in the future of our cities
2 min
Drifts of ground cover plants and wildflowers along the steps of the Sydney Opera House, traffic obscured by meadow-like planting and kangaroos pausing on city streets.
This is the way our cities could be, as imagined by landscape architect Jon Hazelwood, principal at multi-disciplinary architectural firm Hassell. He has been exploring the possibilities of rewilding urban spaces using AI for his Instagram account, Naturopolis_ai with visually arresting outcomes.
“It took me a few weeks to get interesting results,” he said. “I really like the ephemeral nature of the images — you will never see it again and none of those plants are real.
“The AI engine makes an approximation of a grevillea.”
Hazelwood chose some of the most iconic locations in Australia, including the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, as well as international cities such as Paris and London, to demonstrate the impact of untamed green spaces on streetscapes, plazas and public space.
He said he hopes to provoke a conversation about the artificial separation between our cities and the broader environment, exploring ways to break down the barriers and promote biodiversity.
“A lot of the planning (for public spaces) is very limited,” Hazelwood said. “There are 110,000 species of plants in Australia and we probably use about 12 in our (public) planting schemes.
“Often it’s for practical reasons because they’re tough and drought tolerant — but it’s not the whole story.”
Hazelwood pointed to the work of UK landscape architect Prof Nigel Dunnett, who has championed wild garden design in urban spaces. He has drawn interest in recent years for his work transforming the brutalist apartment block at the Barbican in London into a meadow-like environment with diverse plantings of grasses and perennials.
Hazelwood said it is this kind of ‘complex nature’ that is required for cities to thrive into the future, but it can be hard to convince planners and developers of the benefits.
“We have been doing a lot of work on how we get complex nature because complexity of species drives biodiversity,” he said.
“But when we try to propose the space the questions are: how are we going to maintain it? Where is the lawn?
“A lot of our work is demonstrating you can get those things and still provide a complex environment.”
At the moment, Hassell together with the University of Melbourne is trialling options at the Hills Showground Metro Station in Sydney, where the remaining ground level planting has been replaced with more than 100 different species of plants and flowers to encourage diversity without the need for regular maintenance. But more needs to be done, Hazelwood said.
“It needs bottom-up change,” he said. ““There is work being done at government level around nature positive cities, but equally there needs to be changes in the range of plants that nurseries grow, and in the way our city landscapes are maintained and managed.”
And there’s no AI option for that.
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
