Queensland the next property hotspot?

A report by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has suggested that Queensland, the third largest state in Australia, and its capital Brisbane, should be on the radar of foreign investors, given the state's strong growth prospects.

The Sunshine State has considerably surpassed larger Australian states over the past few decades, said the report, which also forecasted that it will be repeated over the next few decades.

“Queensland is currently 20 percent of Australia's population and contributes 19 percent of Australian GDP. However, over the past decade, the state has contributed 30 percent of Australia's population growth, 26 percent of Australia's GDP growth and 29 percent of Australia's employment growth,” said Simon Storry, Director of International Investments.

Queensland is a major global exporter of coal. There are also plans to spend several billion dollars to develop its vast reserves of natural gas.

According to Mr. Storry, the state's population and economy will grow at a faster rate compared to New South Wales and Victoria over the next few decades. This means office stock in Brisbane will grow at a faster rate than Sydney and Melbourne.

Since 1999, the office stock in Brisbane's CBD has grown 29 percent, while Sydney and Melbourne grew 10 percent and 26 percent, respectively.