Rocky red hot for real estate boom

Dan Withers from Ology Real Estate stands in front of one of the properties his agency is selling at Norman Gardens.

Allan Reinikka

A NEW national property report has identified Rockhampton as one of Australia's top spots to invest.

And Ology Real Estate principal Dan Withers reckons the report is on the money.

The inaugural Fast 50 report from leading property resource Smart Property Investment has highlighted the top Australian suburbs geared for capital growth in 2012 - with Rockhampton emerging as one of the hottest investment locations.

Dan said 2012 had already kicked off to be a great year for investors in the city.

"It has definitely been going great, 2012 for us so far has just exploded, we've been so busy in the last few weeks already," he said.

"But comparing the market to last year, it has definitely bounced back."

The local property market was recommended by two of the seven real estate experts who collaborated with the leading property title to create the report - TV personality and property expert Margaret Lomas as well as NextHotSpot director Luke Berry.

As one of the State's major hubs of development, Mr Berry said Rockhampton's property market was primed for investment.

"While the scale of investment is less than at Gladstone it is still significant and (Rockhampton) boasts several cheap areas, such as Berserker, that are set to boom," he said.

"This is a 'buy now and wait for three to five years for some action' (strategy)," she said.

TOP SPOTS

The 2012 Smart Property Investment Fast 50 suburbs for Queensland are:

• Moranbah
• Dysart
• Chinchilla
• Roma
• Toowoomba
• Oakey
• Gladstone
• Rockhampton
• Woolloongabba
• Bowen
• Emerald