Home to just shy of 100,000 people in 2021, Albury Wodonga is continually proving to be an attractive market for commercial and industrial development for local and out-of-area buyers alike.
Offering strong population growth, employment opportunities, education prospects and affordable land, the region has many positive attributes driving interest.
“There is strong local interest as businesses in the region continue to thrive and many local businesses have the requirement to upscale,” said Scott Mann, Director AW Commercial.
The Albury Wodonga market is viewed as a low-risk investment opportunity with steady growth that is reasonably sheltered from major economic impacts. Over the last three years, interest from out of town has grown significantly, with traditional capital city investors looking to de-risk their exposure to city-based assets and look for stability in strong growth regional markets. Mr Mann also points to an influx of small business owner-occupiers taking advantage of the affordability of the market.
“With money being cheap to borrow in many cases it is more affordable to buy your own commercial property and occupy rather than pay rent. Despite recent interest rate rises, this sector of the market remains incredibly strong,” Mr Mann said.
PRD Albury-Wodonga Director Kate Stevens says the demand for industrial and commercial land remains strong and hasn’t necessarily been impacted by interest rate rises.
“Last year there was a real attractiveness to buy commercial and industrial [land], it had less risk associated with it, and it ticked over well in terms of the maintenance and upkeep of the land.
“In my view, commercial and residential, and how people treat commercial treat those spaces is very different. In a commercial or industrial space, it’s an investment so the owners are just looking at the bottom line and it’s not as much of an emotional attachment,” Ms Stevens said.
Developments like the NEXUS Industrial Precinct and Logic Wodonga are drivers of commercial and industrial growth, with affordable, large, industrial parcels of land. However, other commercial offerings around Albury Wodonga are attracting strong commercial interest, too.
Ms Stevens says two of her recent commercial sales in Lavington have been to out-of-area buyers from Victoria and the NSW South Coast. She says buyers are willing to put their money in the Albury Wodonga region because they know it’s an attractive area due to infrastructure investment, regional growth and proximity to Sydney and Melbourne.