September 02, 2009
Article from: The Australian
IT’S known as the shipwreck coast. Extending 100km along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road starting from Moonlight Head, Warrnambool, is quickly gaining a reputation for being more than a popular tourist destination. The regional city, just three hours outside Melbourne, experienced one of the strongest growth rates of a lifestyle location in Australia during the past 12 months and experts believe it’s just the start.

Hotspotting.com.au director Terry Ryder, who has been following housing trends for more than 25 years, describes Warrnambool as affordable and a region where “you can see identifiable reasons why there is going to be growth there from a low base”.

The median price in Warrnambool is sitting at about $275,000 and during the past few years has been experiencing an annual growth rate of about 10 per cent, his research shows.

A key growth driver for the region, Ryder says, is that it has a multifaceted economy, meaning it’s not reliant on one industry.

“The big kicker there is energy generation, he says. “It’s a real centre for projects of an alternative energy nature, particularly wind farms.” The federal government’s move earlier this month to set renewable energy targets, he says, is going to be a boost for all such projects in that region.

“That’s the area investors should be looking at rather than the Gold Coast or Byron Bay.”

Warrnambool is just one of many lifestyle hot spots across Australia that are expected to undergo strong growth in the coming years.

To read full article please click on the following link – http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25994485-5001942,00.html