iscover 
High Speed Rail – Line 1 will connect Newcastle to Sydney via a new railway line, with trains capable of travelling at speeds of up to 320km/h.
It has been predicted that faster connections to Sydney will push both residential and commercial property prices higher in regional towns and cities along the route.
“We’ve been hearing about fast rail for more than 30 years, and it finally feels real with talk of the project being shovel-ready by 2028,” Angus Raine, executive chairman of Raine & Horne, said.
“Faster, more reliable connectivity between Sydney, Gosford, the Central Coast and Newcastle will prove transformative for local economies and property markets.
“For commercial real estate in particular, improved access to the Gosford and Newcastle CBDs will lift business confidence, attract investment and eventually drive values and leasing across the Central Coast and Newcastle.”
Brad Wallace, principal of Raine & Horne Commercial Newcastle, agreed the high-speed rail link will have a “huge” impact on the steel city’s commercial property values.
“The announcement brings additional positivity to the local commercial market, and it is likely we will see a growing number of Sydney-based companies transfer their head offices to the Newcastle region,” Wallace said.
“Already we have seen major corporations such as nib Health Insurance and mining and resources giant Bradken make the decision to have their head office in Newcastle rather than Sydney, and migration levels are expected to jump, making the high-speed rail link a net positive for the Newcastle commercial market.”
No change yet
Ben Henri, founder of Atmosphere Capital, said the project would have no impact on commercial or residential property until there is substantial progress on delivery.
“If I was going to put the impact on a scale, I’d say zero,” Henri said, whose brokerage operates in Newcastle.
“It’s just far too speculative to change anything right now. I don’t think anyone’s going to be sitting in a business and saying, oh, that high-speed rail’s coming, let’s move.
“You go to other countries and see the impact of high-speed rail there, and it’s sensational, but right now that’s a long way off.”
Similarly, Joel Archer, director of brokerage Ascension Finance, said he has seen minimal change in the market so far.
“I think the announcement for the High-Speed rail is still being seen as speculative by many Novocastrians, and based on that, I’ve not witnessed any material uplift on vendor pricing or locals seeking to invest just yet,” he said.
“Once the project moves out of the concept phase and becomes more certain with routes and stations locked in, I’d expect we will start to see more movement.”
Archer said the suburbs he expects to grow are Morisset and Broadmeadow, both of which are currently earmarked for stations.
“Will there be more land made available in Morisset in the coming years?” he asked.
“It is still possible to buy vacant land in these areas. Broadmeadow on the other hand has a lot of older dwellings that potentially could open the way for slightly more dense property developments.
“As for right now, I think most are treating this as a ‘watch and see’, but once station locations and the corridor plans are closer to being locked in, the stronger demand for suburbs near those stations will become more prevalent.”
[Related: How can brokers help SMEs secure finance?]