Queensland towns dominate list of hotspot kings for three years

There are just nine locations in Australia that are long-running property investment hotspots, according to analysis of Australian Property Investor magazine’s Hot 100 list for last three years.

Among the nine are five Queensland locations – Coorparoo, Gladstone, Southport, Toowoomba and Townsville.

There are six regional locations – Gladstone, Newcastle, Orange, Toowoomba, Townsville and Warrnambool.

The lack of city suburbs is notable, with only three making it on the list – Blacktown in the hotspot belt of western Sydney and Coorparoo and Southport in Brisbane.

Not surprisingly, the list includes a number of towns with mining connections, including Newcastle in NSW and Gladstone and Toowoomba in Queensland.

But there are also expanding regional towns that are becoming lifestyle destinations such as Warrnambool in country Victoria and Orange in NSW, which has a growing reputation for fine food and its nearby wineries.

The most affordable housing market among this list is Toowoomba (median house price of $276,000) and the most affordable unit market is in Orange, where an apartment costs just $218,000.

The 2012 median house price in the Sydney suburb of Blacktown is $368,000, while the median unit price is $282,000.

The 2012 median house price in the Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo is $676,000, while the median unit price is $540,000.

The 2012 median house price in the Queensland town of Gladstone is $445,000, while the median unit price is $350,000.

The 2012 median house price in the NSW town of Newcastle is $385,000, while the median unit price is $346,000.

The 2012 median house price in the NSW town of Newcastle is $315,000, while the median unit price is $218,000.

The 2012 median house price in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport is $385,000, while the median unit price is $330,000.

The 2012 median house price in the Queensland town of Toowoomba is $276,000, while the median unit price is unavailable.

The 2012 median house price in the Queensland town of Toowoomba is $370,000, while the median unit price is $308,000.

The 2012 median house price in the Victorian town of Warrnambool is $315,000, while the median unit price is $241,000.

Among the reasons for Townsville selection are “plenty of shopping centres … great cafés, restaurants, an aquatic play area on the Strand, a good art precinct at River Way, good hospitals, a university and schools”.

Southport on the Gold Coast is chosen because of its “law courts, good schools, the Gold Coast Hospital and further public transport potential with the light rail coming”.

“It also has a major shopping centre, Australia Fair, strip shopping, cafés and restaurants,” says API magazine.