Terry Ryder has predicted investors will continue to flock to Darwin in 2026. Picture: Matty Schiller
The investor markets expected to run hot in 2026 have been revealed with predictions landlords will be flocking to regions where infrastructure spending is on the up.
Property analyst Terry Ryder, founder and managing director of Hotspotting said investors would gravitate to the likes of Darwin, regional Tasmania, regional Victoria and Melbourne, where projects were stimulating local economies.
“We’re seeing unprecedented level of infrastructure development happening in Australia right now,” he said.
“It’s $900b worth of investment and infrastructure.
“We’ve never seen so much investment in hospitals, universities, airports, motorways, rail links, data centres.
“It creates jobs and from that comes demand for real estate.
“Wherever there’s big infrastructure investment happening, we’re going to see buyer demand rising and prices rising.”
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Hotspotting founder and property analyst Terry Ryder. Picture: Supplied
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Mr Ryder said examples of this were the billion-dollar hospital builds and upgrades in areas such as Bundaberg and Toowoomba in Queensland and Frankston in Victoria.
“These projects really are an underrated generator of big activity in residential property,” he said.
“If somebody if looking for a simple formula of ‘where should I buy? Where will I get great growth?
“Have a look at where they’re building these big billion-dollar hospitals around the country, because those are places that are really going to take off.”
Mr Ryder said in Darwin, the local economy was seeing a revival and the hot property market was attracting strong interest from investors.
“That’s actually very early in its cycle and we expect that will continue,” he said.
“Darwin had three years where it hadn’t performed and then people started to notice it’s very affordable, the most affordable capital city by far, with the highest rental yields of any capital city.
“Once word got out that it was being targeted as a hotspot, the herd mentality clicked in and people are really starting to pile into that market now.”
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The home at 9 Calvert St, Tiwi, hit the market in Darwin with a price guide of offers over $700,000. Picture: realestate.com.au
Mr Ryder said Melbourne and regional Victoria areas including Ballarat and Geelong would also see increased investor interest in 2026.
“These areas haven’t had a lot of focus for a couple of years but this year we started to see the first signs of revival,” he said.
“Ballarat, for example, has had a couple years where prices have been flat and in some cases prices have fallen, so the value for money buying in Ballarat is particularly good at the moment.”
Mr Ryder said similar was happening in the regional Tasmanian markets of Launceston and Burnie.
“These are what we call second wind markets,” he said.
“They’re places that maybe had a bit of a sprint from 2020 to 2022, and for a couple of years they’ve been catching their breath and, having got their second wind, they’re going to start running again.
“We’re always interested in the underlying economy, because we think that’s the most important thing.
The home at 31 Birch Ave, Newstead, hit the market in regional Tasmania for offers over $595,000. Picture: realestate.com.au
“Launceston has a strong and diverse economy and … has some very big projects getting underway or proposed.
“Burnie also has a lot of focus for government investment and it’s got an important export port.
“We’re hearing anecdotally that the Burnie market’s attracting quite heavy competition amongst buyers for available properties.”
Mr Ryder said in Brisbane, investors had been active for some time and that wasn’t likely to change in 2026, especially with an upcoming Olympic Games.
“Brisbane is a strong market,” he said.
“It’s got population growth, lifestyle, climate and there’s a big infrastructure spend happening quite independent of the Olympics factor, which creates a lot of activity in jobs and demand for real estate.
“The Olympics on the horizon is just another layer on top of that and I think people are going be buying apartments in the inner city area of Brisbane, thinking towards the Olympics.”
The home at 314 Eyre St, Buninyong, was listed for sale regional Victoria with a price guide of $595,000 – $625,000. Picture: realestate.com.au
Melinda Jennison, president of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia, said there had been a noted increase in property investor activity throughout Australia in 2025, particularly once interest rates started to come down.
“Many investors, especially those that may be trying to build out a portfolio, also have strong equity positions because of recent market growth, and they have been able to leverage equity in properties they already own,” she said.
Ms Jennison said while investors had been busy buying across the wider Australian property market, it didn’t necessarily mean they were pushing owner-occupiers out.
“The reality is a lot of properties are selling from investor to investor,” she said.
Ms Jennison predicted 2026 would look much the same as 2025 when it came to investor activity, but noted that was dependent on factors such as interest rates, price growth and local economies, as well as policy and government changes impacted the cost to hold assets.
“With low supply and strong demand that isn’t slowing down, capital growth is likely to continue across 2026 and investors will always be attracted that kind of opportunity,” she said.
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