The director of Hotspotting.com.au, Terry Ryder, said Dubbo had an attractive real estate market and was included in the top 10 lists because it displayed a promising future for mid to long-term growth. 

“Dubbo is definitely a top 10 national regional centre,” he said.

The Mailbox Shopper last week reported Dubbo land values increased 6.7 per cent to $2.25 billion in the 12 months to July 1 2013, according to the Valuer General Philip Western. The land values are expected to increase again when official valuations are completed later this year.

Mr Ryder said during the past 12 months Dubbo had showed solid growth but the “biggest is still to come”.

“First of all Dubbo has got a very strategic location in the junction of three major highways,” Mr Ryder said 

He said Dubbo was on a major rail route, had a significant regional airport and a diverse economy.

“A big agricultural sector, very strong educational sector as well as medical services and a major hospital, and tourism add to Dubbo’s appeal.”

He said economic activity from the resources sector was “icing on the cake”.

“Dubbo doesn’t really need any boost from the resources sector but having the big Zirconia project, Tomingley Gold project and some coal mining around the area is a bit of a bonus for Dubbo,” Mr Ryder said. 

He said when it came to people wanting to invest, Dubbo was “very under-rated”.

He said buying in a major city to achieve the best growth was not necessarily true. 

“Buying in a good solid regional centre like Dubbo is a win-win situation where you’ve got cheaper prices, better rental returns and good prospects of capital growth,” he said. 

Mr Ryder said Sydney in comparison was far more expensive and rental returns were “really small”.

“Sydney capital growth over the last 10 years has been a poor 4 per cent compared to Dubbo’s 7 per cent,” he said. 

“Take that over a 20-year period and you’re looking at a very big difference in capital gains.”

The Real Estate Institute (REI) Orana branch said it was not surprised Dubbo was considered a top 10 hotspot in NSW, saying it was still “very cheap compared to a lot of other centres”. 

REI deputy chair Andrew Toole said the broader issue of insufficient supply to meet high demand pushed rents and returns upwards and drove investment. But there were two sides of the coin.

“We’re very happy to recognise that it’s a good place to buy for all these reasons. But in looking forward we need to plan to cater for this growth and unfortunately that’s not an overnight thing,” Mr Toole said.