FIFO buyers home in on coast

QUEENSLAND has five of the top 10 areas in Australia predicted to benefit strongly from demand by fly-in, fly-out workers.

Property research by Terry Ryder from hotspotting.com.au shows the state's coastal centres are already starting to feel the effects of FIFO buyers.

Hervey Bay, Mackay, Townsville and the Whitsunday region feature on his list, while Toowong in Brisbane's inner west also rated highly because it was close to the CBD and had good transport links.

The other top-10 areas are in Western Australia and South Australia.

Mr Ryder said FIFO workers had created a new phenomenon in the real estate market.

"The growing use of FIFO workforces means that many of the men and women earning high incomes to work at remote-area mining locations are not living in those mining towns,'' he said.

He said many lived in capital cities such as Brisbane or Perth or coastal towns where they could enjoy the lifestyle benefits.

"Lifestyle seems to be the key consideration in these buying decisions, along with schools, shopping and transport services,'' he said.

Mr Ryder said people who worked on remote mine sites were often seeking a relaxed style of living when they bought their permanent home.

FIFO buyers would have a strong effect on prices in areas they were drawn to, he said.

Investing in suburbs and towns attractive to FIFO buyers could carry much lower risk than buying in mining towns.

Mr Ryder said he looked at areas in which FIFO workers were already buying and those where he thought their investment would increase. He said Whitsunday and Hervey Bay were emerging as FIFO bases.

Whereas both have had poor price growth and sales levels in previous years, the number of transactions was now rising.

"It seems both those markets are making a comeback and part of the reason is that they are gaining interest from FIFO workers,'' he said.

"They tend to choose these lifestyle locations as places to settle.''

Whitsunday Coast airport already has regular charter flights to mining town Moranbah.

Buyer's agents in Brisbane are reporting strong sales workers in the mining industry in Toowong and surrounding suburbs.

Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/realestate/investing/fifo-buyers-home-in-on-coast/story-fndctfxy-1226523293989