Commercial real estate investors who are looking for new places where they can diversify their portfolios may want to consider properties for sale in Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Both of these locations have been removed from a list of single-industry towns where Westpac bank is hesitant to provide financing. Moranbah, Dysart, and Blackwater have been added to the bank’s list of hotspots in Queensland.
Interest in Australia’s mining regions for investment property purchases is strong in other areas, with a number of investors expressing interest in properties located in Townsville, Mackay and Toowoomba, as well as smaller centres. One of the latest commercial real estate deals of note was the sale of a 3,085 square metre industrial complex situated on a 15,000 square metre site located at Roma, in Queensland’s southwest region.
This property, located at 152 Roma Downs Road, was built to suit Weatherford, a Swiss global mining services company. It includes a 1,300 metre warehouse, a 575 square metre office and laboratory, as well as space for storage and an awning. The buyer, an investor based in Cairns, assumed Weatherford’s existing 10-year lease, along with two, five-year options which will return a rental income of over $439,000 (£281,916) per year plus GST. This amount reflects a yield of just over nine per cent per annum, with annual increases of over four per cent.
Weatherford is a major tenant, with operations in 100 countries. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The sale of the building has attracted a great deal of interest nationally, and may encourage other commercial property investors to take another look at available options in Queensland mining areas. Activity in this area is expected to continue increasing in the near future.
