If you’re a home buyer or an investor waiting on the sidelines trying to discern when and where to invest in order to ride on the wave of the residential property market boom, there’s still plenty of options attracting investors for their potential returns.

The Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) asked 786 investors about their sentiments for the 2021 PIPA Annual Investor Sentiment Survey, and 62 per cent of them think that “now is a good time to invest in residential property”.

Based on the survey, the possibility of working remotely and affordably to embrace a lifestyle away from expensive, congested cities sparked the big move to regional areas. Because of this, “investors remain open to move to other locations with regions set to benefit from plenty of new residents”.

What areas could produce long-term capital gains as you try to seize the opportunity from what could be the best year ever?

Queensland claims the top spot as the best place to invest in real estate, according to investors.

A whopping 58 per cent believe that the Sunshine State will provide the best property investment opportunities in the coming year, up from 36 per cent last year.

The Sunshine State’s capital, Brisbane, is perceived by investors as the best capital for good investment returns, with investors sharing this sentiment rising to 54 per cent from 36 per cent in 2020.

NSW clinched the second spot with 16 per cent, slightly down from 21 per cent in 2020.

In the third spot is Victoria, which slid down to 10 per cent from 27 per cent last year.

Moving over to capital city preferences, Sydney and Melbourne trail far behind at 13 per cent (down from 18 per cent) and 12 per cent (down from 27 per cent), respectively.

Even at just 8 per cent, investors’ interest in Perth slightly climbed from 6 per cent last year.

Following closely is Adelaide at the fifth spot at 6 per cent, Hobart at 3 per cent, and Canberra at 2 per cent.

Darwin had a slight improvement at 1 per cent from the 0.2 per cent in 2020.

Data worth noting that barely changed from last year are the reasons why respondents considered moving to another location: 78 per cent said they want an improved lifestyle (the same percentage as 2021), 42 per cent (down from 46 per cent) said they see themselves working from home in the future, and 36 per cent (down from 40 per cent) mentioned housing affordability.

These numbers paint a colourful backdrop of the residential property market, which is why PIPA chair Peter Koulizos describes the survey as “a detailed portrait of Australia’s residential property investors and how they think and feel at the present time”.

Mr Koulizos also gave a reminder that the survey last year did predict the strong property price growth that was to come, but it might have been difficult to believe it due to the fear and uncertainty prevailing at that time. But now that the worst seems to be over, investors seem to be more hopeful, revealing confidence in the current marketplace.

Noemi Pamintuan-jara, Smart Property Investment, 23 October 2021
https://www.smartpropertyinvestment.com.au/research/23244-best-locations-to-invest-in-australia-in-2021-and-beyond