Leading real estate group Raine & Horne welcomed the recent release of Infrastructure Australia’s Corridor Protection report , which addresses the preservation of land for a proposed high-speed rail corridor between Brisbane and Melbourne.

“The East Coast high-speed rail (HSR) network  will help relieve some of Sydney’s affordability pressures and underpin long-term property prices in regional centres in NSW, Victoria and South-East Queensland by as much as 5-10% when it becomes a reality,” said Angus Raine, Executive Chairman, Raine & Horne.  

“For instance, we’ve been urging the government to include a station at Goulburn, in NSW, on the HSR network for a number of years now.”

A station is proposed for Goulburn, along with stops at Casino, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Newcastle, Gosford, Wagga Wagga, Albury-Wodonga, Shepparton, and Queensland’s Gold Coast. 

Central Coast

The new Central Coast Council welcomed news that Infrastructure Australia was focusing attention on the region and how to preserve land for the HSR, noted REINSW Deputy President Brett Hunter, General Manager, Raine & Horne Terrigal & Avoca and Raine & Horne Commercial Erina.

“The HSR is necessary for the growing population on the Central Coast, and to connect more commuters to jobs in Sydney and Newcastle,” said Hunter.

The proposed HSR network would have an enormous impact on Central Coast real estate markets, according to Hunter, by attracting even more Sydney buyers.

“Commute times to Sydney are a major issue for Sydneysiders considering a shift to the Central Coast,” said Hunter. 

The MSR could transport a typical Central Coast worker door-to-desk in Sydney in around 60 minutes compared to the current average of 2 hours using existing drive, park and rail commuting solutions.

“We could halve commute times with a fast train service between Sydney and Newcastle, which would prove attractive to more Sydneysiders, who are looking for a way to break away from the city’s surging real estate prices,” said Mr Hunter. 

“There are 3-bedroom homes for sale in popular Avoca Beach for under $800,000 despite the spike in Sydney buyer numbers this year. 

“However, we’d need to see some holes in the ground before we could predict the longer-term impact on values in Avoca Beach, Terrigal, McMasters Beach and Copacabana,” said Hunter.

Southern Tablelands

Goulburn, a major inland city centrally located between Sydney and Canberra, offers very affordable real estate, with three-bedroom houses under $350,000,” said Zeb Alaia, Co-Principal, Raine & Horne Goulburn.

“A high-speed train could encourage more businesses to shift to regional centres such as Goulburn, which will help generate employment growth, which is a key factor in long-term real estate growth. 

“That said, the HSR has been in the pipeline for a long time and we’d really like to see the government commit to this as it will be a massive economic boost for regional towns in NSW,” said Alaia.

Read more from Angus Raine:

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