Slowdown to hit mining boom towns as Roxby Downs rents up 27% over past 12 months: RP Data

Weekly rental returns for Roxby Downs property investors have increased almost 27% over the past 12 months to May 2012, according to figures compiled by RP Data.

The median advertised rent for a house in Roxby Downs is now $520 a week.

Roxby Downs is the township closest to the now cancelled BHP Olympic Dam expansion project.

Its population was expected to double to 10,000 people due to investment by BHP in services and accomodation in the small town.

According to RP Data, Roxby Downs annual rental gains to May were only bettered by the Isaac region in Queensland, which recorded an incredible 88% increase in its median advertised rent to $1,600 per week.

Isaac takes in much of Queensland's Bowen Basin region, which houses one of Australia’s biggest coal reserves.

Second on the list was the well-known mining hotspot of Gladstone, with rents up 44% since May last year to a weekly median of $550.

The seaport South Australian town of Whyalla, which was also expected to benefit from the Olympic Dam expansion, recorded a modest 10.7% increase in weekly rents to $310 per week, according to RP Data.