Hi Sharif,

Coming originally from Tassie and having family down there still I may be able to shed some light for you on the current state of things not only in Burnie but also the whole of Tassie in terms of an investment.  Thanks to people like us who have gone down there and bought up just about everything pricing is par on pap now in some places with Melbourne, unfortunately for the locals the incomes are not the same and they cannot support mortgages that can be catered for over here on the 'mainland'.  The lack of manufaturing etc all over Tassie is leading to major holes, even with the 1st home buyers grants, for anyone down there to enter the market.  Hence the massive hikes in rental demand not only in Burnie but also all of Tassie.  Many of the locals are not used to seeing pricing where it is and are not willing to pay for it, with many of them still under the belief that it may still come back down a fraction??   That being said rental demand and achievable rental income is very high at present and in there local papers only a couple of weeks ago they are predicting rentals in Tasmania as a whole to go up another, 15% in the next 18 months.  Although the same cannot be said for the prices, having a property returning these types of rental estimates has to be good news frrom an investment point of view.  Although not so good for the locals.

Hope some of this helps in your decision best of luck – regards Amanda