Sixty-six new hotspots: Remote, inaccessible and with poor amenities, yet rents are skyrocketing in tiny Onslow

Western Australia and Queensland are where investors should be looking for new investment hotspots, analysis of Australian Property Investor magazine’s hot 100 list has revealed.

The 2012 list features 66 locations that are appearing for the first time, with 20 in Western Australia and 17 in Queensland.

The WA and Queensland picks include both capital city suburbs and remote mining towns benefiting from the resources boom.

Among the most interesting new entrants is Onslow, which has a population of just 845 and is 1,400 kilometres north from Perth.

According to property valuer Brad Mazza at LandMark White Hegney, the local council for Onslow is “average”, accessibility is “very poor” as there are no flights into the area (you need to fly to either Karratha or Exmouth), and services and amenities are “poor” with “limited houses and very basic amenities”.

However, its location south west of Karratha on the coast of the Pilbara region means it is rapidly turning into one of Australia’s mining boom towns.

Mazza says that while prices have already gone through the roof with some vacant blocks of land costing more than $1 million, there’s still talk of prices increasing further. 

Major projects underway in Onslow include the massive 8,000-hectare Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area, with BHP Billiton and Chevron both fully committed. 

A four-bedroom house on Burt Close in Onslow is asking rent of $2,800 per week – similar prices to those being charged in Port Hedland, also in the Pilbara. 

Other mining hotspots on the list for the first time include Karratha in the Pilbara, Moranbah in Queensland’s Isaac region, Bundaberg, 300 kilometres north of Brisbane, Ceduna, 550 kilometres north west of Adelaide, Mackay, 800 kilometres north west of Brisbane, Newman, 1,000 kilometres north of Perth, and Oakey, near Toowoomba. 

City suburbs like Osborne Park, just seven kilometres from Perth, is picked by Australian Property Monitors to boom on the back of “$100 billion in mining industry activity” in WA.

NSW accounts for eight of the new investment hotspots (all of which are Sydney suburbs), there are seven each in Victoria (two being Bendigo and Ballarat) and South Australia, three in the Northern Territory, two in the ACT and two in Tasmania.

The full alphabetical list is:

1. Ballarat, Vic
2. Belmont, WA
3. Bendigo, Vic
4. Box Hill, Vic
5. Broome, WA
6. Bundaberg, Qld
7. Camperdown, NSW
8. Carindale, Qld
9. Carlton North, Vic
10.  Ceduna, SA
11. Chermside, Qld
12. Cloverdale, WA
13. Como, WA
14. Dickson, ACT
15. Dunsborough, WA
16. Dutton Park, Qld
17. Eden Hill, WA
18. Edgewater, WA
19. Enmore, NSW
20. Fremantle, WA
21. Gawler, WA
22. Granville, NSW
23. Hackham, SA
24. Heathridge, WA
25. Highgate, WA
26. Indooroopilly, Qld
27. Karratha, WA
28. Kawana, Qld
29. Kellyville, NSW
30. Keperra, Qld
31. Mackay, Qld
32. Magill, SA
33. Maroubra, NSW
34. Marrickville, NSW
35. Midland WA
36. Moorooka, Qld
37. Moranbah, Qld
38. Murarrie, Qld
39. Neutral Bay, NSW
40. Newman, WA
41. Ningi, Qld
42. Norwood, SA
43. Nundah, Qld
44. Oakey Qld
45. Onslow, WA
46. Osborne Park WA
47. Palmerston, NT
48. Parap, NT
49. Port Hedland, WA
50. Port Lincoln, SA
51. Roma, Qld
52. Roxby Downs, SA
53. Smithton, Tas
54. Summerhill, NSW
55. Sunshine, Vic
56. Tennant Creek, NT
57. Turner, ACT
58. Underwood, Qld
59.  Warrane, Tas
60. Werribee, Vic
61. West Footscray, Vic
62. Westminster, WA
63. Willetton, WA
64. Woodville West, SA
65. Yangebup, WA
66. Yeerongpilly, Qld

The full hot 100 list is in the April issue of Australian Property Investor, which is on sale now.

Photo courtesy of Trip Advisor.