DUBBO’S position as one of the top picks for investment properties may result in more new houses, industry and civic leaders say.
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Real estate agent Mark Searle said any increased demand caused by the recent favourable spotlight on the city could prompt more people to build.
The new chairman of the Real Estate Institute’s Orana division welcomed Dubbo’s appearance on a top 50 hotspots list compiled by Smart Property Investment and released earlier this week.
Mr Searle anticipated the result could in fact help resolve Dubbo’s lack of housing stock, not make it worse.
“You still need to encourage investors,” he said.
“We need more building going on, which will help Dubbo grow.”
He envisaged a scenario where someone who sold to an investor may then go on to build a new house.
With Dubbo’s 0.8 per cent vacancy rate and median house price of $275,000, Mr Searle was not surprised by the property magazine’s report.
Nor was Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson, who said he was encouraging people to “get out there to invest”.
He cited the low vacancy rate and other encouraging figures, but acknowledged one road block.
“It’s all good for investment, and I’m telling people, but the problem is the lack of available housing,” he said.
Cr Dickerson said a seminar at Dubbo last year which had property expert Margaret Lomas attend as guest speaker had attempted to overcome the scarcity.
“We were trying to encourage mum and dad investors to buy land and build,” he said.
“Some investors prefer to do that . . . you know exactly what you’re getting.”
Other NSW suburbs or centres identified in the magazine’s report as geared for capital growth included Bathurst, Blacktown, Box Hill, Cessnock, Gunnedah, the Hunter Valley, Ingleburn, Macquarie Fields, Newcastle and Penrith.
Ms Lomas was one of six contributors to the Smart Property Investment report.
The fast 50 hotspots were selected based on a range of key metrics including population growth, demand for housing, income levels, employment, vacancy rates, previous capital growth and current gross rental yields.
Dwelling approvals at Dubbo totalled 183 last year, up 30 on the previous year.
The NSW government’s First Home Owner Grant offers $15,000 to first-time buyers to build or purchase a new house.