Branxton, NSW

Anyone else been keeping an eye on this regional NSW town?

Major transport infrastructure is now approved and under way, due for completion in 2013 positioning it well as growing hub for the lower Hunter Valley. This new F3 extension should cut the time into Newcastle from about 1 hr down to something like 30-40 minutes. Lots of mining related towns nearby just a little further up into the valley. It is well positioned to become the “gateway to the Hunter Valley” kind of thing.

Yields look pretty lame at the moment, but purchase prices look quite affordable still i.e. $220k-$270k for 2-3 bed units and houses, some with considerable land content. Nearby Greta looks to have heaps of land and new developments listed, therefore I wouldn’t say that the area appears to be running out of housing.

Branxton was pencilled by a couple of different “authorities” (Terry Ryder and something else on Today Tonight, listed in API mag also) as one of the number 1 towns to invest in, predicted for big time boom in just a few years time for the above transport reasons as well as other industry/infrastructure related reasons. These kind of regional towns, particularly close to mining centres, have the potential for rents to quickly go through the roof very quickly, but I can’t see that happening until at least the completion of the road i.e. 2013..

Anyone else have any thoughts on this area? Or any experience with similar predictions in the past in a similar town? What do others predict?

I.e. get in quick and get something now and wait out the next potentially stagnant 3 or so years, OR wait until a little closer to the completion date and then re-assess? I am thinking the latter.