According to Simon Pressley, head of research at Propertyology, many regional property markets across Australia experienced growth in 2018, and that could continue on the back of significant job growth.

“The fundamentals contradict the fearmongering,” Mr Pressley told Nestegg.

“Property markets in parts of regional Australia have already experienced property price growth of boom proportions during 2018 and we expect that to continue for some years yet.”

Mr Pressley added: “Regional Australia created an additional 200,000 jobs over the last two years and it’s no coincidence that, when combined with affordable housing and tighter housing supply than our big cities, that we’ve already seen double-digit price growth in many non-capital city markets.”

He explained that major projects in the areas of tourism, defense, agriculture and mining will see the employment growth in regional areas to remain strong, in turn improving economic conditions and inspiring local confidence.

“The future drivers of price growth include a tourism major project pipeline that consists of 213 projects worth $42 billion, the federal government’s $290 billion defence fleet manufacturing program, expanding agribusiness throughout Australia (think Free Trade Agreements and Asia’s Food Bowl), [coupled with] a major rebound in mining (think WA, QLD and NSW),” the head of research said.

Across Australia, Mr Pressley puts forward Whyalla in South Australia; Launceston in Tasmania; Shepparton, Warrnambool, Wangaratta, Bendigo, Mildura and Ballarat in Victoria; and Armidale, Tamworth, Lismore, Muswellbrook, Parkes, Orange, Dubbo, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga as specific areas with high growth potential.

“There are dozens of locations that have done it tough for several years that are likely to become Australia’s most improved property markets during 2019,” Mr Pressley concluded.