Before recommending a property or an area to a client I like to visit and do my own research. I had heard some mixed reports about Gladstone. But after a tour with local building veteran Roy Atkinson I started to have the revelation that this was one of the strong economic areas in Australia.

Roy shared with me his building experiences spanning over 30 years and his rocket ride to multi-millionaire status in the last few years by simply building spec homes and holding them. We spent most of the day on a tour around the city and neighbouring communities such as Cutis Island, Calliope and Tannum Sands.

The statistics show why Roy has been so successful with his investing. The medium price for houses in Gladstone 2001 was $110,000. Just five years later the median price was $344,000. That’s an average annual growth of an amazing 25.6% (PRD Nationwide). The first quarter this year shows the median price at $380,000. There is some speculation that the ride is over for people investing in Gladstone. However, I beg to differ! With record low vacancy rates and new employment opportunities coupled with a shortage of available housing stacks up to an unprecedented opportunity.

I don’t believe I am alone in my opinion. Michael Addison wrote recently in the Investment Property Reporter (p16, vol 36, 2009) about the massive investment into the local economy. Currently there is an amount of $20 billion being spent on the infrastructure of this tiny town of 67000 people. This spend will go towards the following –

· Liquid natural gas drilling

· Construction: – pipelines, factories, rail lines, gas and coal leaders.

· New shale oil projects

“Think about the impact of $20 billion dollars (that’s $20,000,000,000) spent in a region with a current population of just 67000; that’s $289,855 for each man, woman and child” A figure as large as 20 billion sounds impressive – but when both government spending and private spending are put together it totals over $34 billion that will be spent in the region (QLD Government Dept. Infrastructure and Planning). Part 2 will be posted this week.

A lot of people are asking what will happen in 2010 with the Australian economy that is a very good question.This is just a small part of what I see happening because of all of the stimulus programs around the world. We are going to see a return of inflation and when inflation is on the increase then this will be followed by an increase in interest rates which is what we are already starting to see happening here in Australia.

We are the first country in the world to increase interest rate which has happened in 2 straight months with talk of more rates to follow next year.Consumer confidence dropped in the month of November by 2.4 % that is a direct response to increasing interest rates to soon.Keep an eye on what is happening in the USA they are still 1/3 of the worlds GDP so a the rest of the world still rely on selling their products to the USA. America is still contracting in their economy and this still will reflect on the rest of the world.

It is time to develop a life style of debt reduction most people in the property market are always trying to talk the market up just so they can make a sale.I am also a Property Agent I have lived threw a number of recessions and when the economy is not going so well it can be very tough to keep our heads above water when we have to much debt.This can put a lot of pressure on the family and is the main reason for a break down in the family unit.

Parents divorce and children are caught in the middle of a break down of their once loving family environment and it goes on all because of Debt.Just remember this Global Economic problem is not over yet so don’t live beyond your income learn to live on less than you earn.Do this in the good times and the bad times and work towards being debt Free 

This is an area I have found to fit my criteria for buying an investment property in. It already has a major shopping centre directly across the road with room for expansion they are doing the earth works to build a major Bunning’s store and also an  Aldi store. Just 1 mile up the road is a new state school in fact there is about 4 schools in a 2 mile radius. Around the corner is a small industrial centre and fifteen minutes up the road there is a major industrial centre just of the M1 highway and 40 minutes from this location is the Brisbane CBD.

This area is very sound for the working family that may be looking to rent.Research has found that his type of area people have rented the same property for 10 to 15 years because it is such a well  located area to live for work and schooling.Its a very safe area for child with lots bushland around and parks and just 1 km away is a train station going to Brisbane or Robina.