Overview
Just two hours from Sydney and rapidly becoming a sophisticated, cosmopolitan centre in its own right, Newcastle holds rich and attractive opportunities for any investor. It wasn’t always this way. For a long time Newcastle was one of the roughest places in NSW. It was a coal port full of sailors, miners and a city based on steel and industry. Then, the recession of the early 90s hit the city hard, as did the closure of the BHP steelworks, the largest employer in the area. Few would have predicted that Newcastle would turn around to becoming the second most populated city in NSW with an exodus of Sydneysiders flocking to it each year.
Newcastle has transformed itself from entirely dependent on coal and steel based industrial city to more service based, especially in the areas of education, health and tourism.
GROWTH
Newcastle’s population is 163,884 and the Department of Planning have projected it will reach 190,000 by 2036. It has a gross regional worth over $14 billion. It has also slashed unemployment (traditionally a bugbear of the Hunter area) by 2 per cent over the last year, thus strengthening the labour market. Meanwhile, both private and government sectors continue to pump investment money into it as a very innovative and dynamic regional centre. Data source: ABS Census 2016.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Newcastle has three of the features vital for any regional centre’s flourishing development: its own airport; its own university and a large hospital. As far as the future, there is $6.5 billion worth of infrastructure planned or under way and nearly $2 billion in private development projects. The $368 million light rail system is in construction.
Newcastle has a growing aerospace industry. The RAAF Williamtown’s $500 million aerospace centre will add 8,500 jobs to the region. RAAF Williamtown currently has 3,500 staff and is the biggest employer in the Hunter region. There’s a $1.5 billion upgrade to provide a runway extension and state-of-the-art facilities at the RAAF Base which will see more strike jets to be based there in preparation for the Federal Government’s $12 billion expenditure on F-35A joint strike fighters. It's important to mention the Port of Newcastle; it's the largest port on the east coast of Australia and the world's leading coal export port, an economic and trade centre for the region.
3D render of the new development in Newcastle, NSW by Iris Group.
Highlight
PROPERTY PRICES
The Domain State of the Market report for September 2017 shows Newcastle’s property prices soared by 13.3 per cent over the year. In fact, Newcastle is on a booming trajectory and the median house price has already performed stronger than Sydney results, up by 8.2 per cent over the year. Newcastle has a median house price of around $595,000 and with the upward shift in prices over the last five years, the region is fast becoming a viable alternative to Sydney.
Sources
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