KINGAROY is a town built on peanuts, but property there is as cheap as chips.
Property analyst Terry Ryder says there is a bargain to be had this year in Sir Joh's old stomping ground, with Kingaroy set for record capital growth in the coming decade.
Mr Ryder said the median house price in the town, located two and a half hours north-west of Brisbane, could increase up to 47 per cent in the next five years as considerable industrial projects went online.
He said first-home buyers and investors alike should turn their attention to Kingaroy where the median house price of $210,000 is half the median house price in Brisbane.
"The 'look and feel' of an area doesn't necessarily dictate future growth. The key is whether businesses in the area have plans for future enterprises that create jobs and wealth," he said.
"The best property investments are those in areas with healthy, sustainable local economies that present strong prospects for future price growth."
Three key industrial projects, including the $1 billion Coopers Gap windfarm - to be the largest in the southern hemisphere - an underground coal gasification plant by Cougar Energy and the Kunioon coal mine, are due to be completed this decade.
"These projects are going to create jobs in the area and therefore increased demand for accommodation," Mr Ryder said.
First-home buyer Matthew Hislop, 21, said his decision to purchase a cottage in Kingaroy was purely financial.
"My fiance and I would have never been able to buy a home of the same quality and size in Brisbane. Actually we probably wouldn't have bought a house at all, because we wouldn't have been able to afford our wedding or honeymoon as well," Mr Hislop, a fast-food restaurant worker, said.
"This way we will have the opportunity to sell and upgrade in the near future.
"It's obviously a quiet place, but I prefer living here than in a two-bedroom unit in the city. And there's plenty to do on the weekends here, if you're not a shopaholic."
Kingaroy real estate agent Jackie Allery said young families had moved to the town in droves due to the "affordability crisis" in the capital city.
"Inquiries by first-home buyers have really skyrocketed in the past year, but we are also seeing young families sell up in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast and come here so they can reduce their mortgage and put more money back in the bank," Ms Allery said.
She said pre-loved grand Queenslanders sold from $220,000 to $250,000, while four-bedroom brick homes in new estates sold from $360,000 to $370,000.
In other states Mr Ryder tipped Glen Innes, in northern NSW, and Portland, 360 kilometres west of Melbourne, as future property hotspots.
"These regional centres and country towns all share common traits - low prices, solid rental returns and strong potential for price growth. For investors, such locations offer steady sustainable growth that can match the more high-profile boom areas over time," he said.
However RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher said investing in markets outside capital cities could be risky, even at the best of times.
"Most of these predictions are based on large infrastructure and as we have seen time and time again projects can be cancelled or delayed just as quickly as they are announced," Mr Kusher said.
"Although investing in growing regional areas can undoubtedly result in strong capital growth at times, there are instances where it also won't. We equate these areas generally to high risk shares with their high risk and high return."
He said properties in capital cities would outperform property in all regional areas in the long-term.
"These [urban] properties are closest to working nodes, closest to most of the amenity and as a result generally have the highest level of desirability."
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