Adelaide’s property market is set to boom off the back of SA’s submarine activity. Photo by Colin Murty-Pool/Getty Images
The future of the nation’s naval defence strategy is fuelling demand for properties in South Australia, property experts say.
Century 21 – Beachside & Lakes’ Rosalie Grickage, who sells in Osborne, said interest in properties both in Osborne and in neighbouring North Haven had gone through the roof in the wake of a series of recent announcements regarding submarine building in the area as part of the AUKUS deal.
“I’ve seen a huge increase in Osborne and in North Haven as well – inquiries for both of these has grown exponentially,” she said.
“Especially North Haven, where developers are now going into and wanting to go into that coastal strip of Osborne because a lot of buyers don’t realise the Osborne area does go down to the beach.
“It’s been my best year since Covid, because this area hasn’t gone back since then.”
She said this increase in demand had.
“For a development site it certainly drives it higher and the most important thing to be aware of is in these areas they have very good sized allotments in excess of 690sqm, so they allow buyers to renovate a home or knock it over and put a nice home on it, or developers come in and put three on it,” she said.
Rosalie Grickage of C21.
Ms Grickage said more homes would be needed to house workers of the Osborne site, and it was positive to see works already in place to facilitate this.
“Now developers are seeing this is the perfect place to do multi-dwelling sites, which will increase the density down that way, and that will promote the area as a place to live for the workers of the submarine corp,” she said.
“The fact that the developers are here now in that corridor developing properties – that will increase the density.”
She said high rise living could serve a purpose, however there was no current high-rise housing in the area and any high-rise accommodation needed to be right for the area and well supported by services and infrastructure.
Overall she said the submarine activity had had a positive affect on the local market, but that more homes were needed to support the number of people who would work there in the coming years.
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Ray White Group head of research Vanessa Rader said the announcement of Adelaide’s $30bn submarine construction facility at Osborne had created unprecedented property demand and represented far more than simply a defence milestone for the state.
But, she says, Adelaide must act now as it faces a critical window to position itself properly for AUKUS-driven property demand.
“It’s a catalyst that will reshape Adelaide’s property landscape in ways the market has barely begun to price in,” she said.
It is anticipated that by 2040 the Osborne shipyard expansion will employ at least 4000 workers during the construction period, and 5500 when submarine production is operating at full tilt.
Ray White Group head of research Vanessa Rader. Picture: Supplied
“Importantly, defence manufacturing doesn’t exist in isolation, it creates cascading demand across Adelaide’s industrial and residential precincts that most current supply projections haven’t accounted for,” Ms Rader said.
Those shortages, she said, include a critical shortage of industrial land.
“Recent analysis of metropolitan employment lands shows that of approximately 1500ha identified as vacant in 2021, only 146ha meet development-ready criteria today,” she said.
“At current absorption rates of around 60ha annually, Adelaide’s industrially zoned land could be exhausted within two years.
“The AUKUS submarine program will dramatically accelerate this timeline.”
She said the defence manufacturing requires supportive infrastructure beyond the primary construction site.
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“Component fabrication, materials processing, logistics co-ordination, equipment maintenance, and quality testing all need dedicated industrial space,” she said.
“The Defence Teaming Centre’s emphasis on local supply chain integration means hundreds of South Australian businesses will need to expand or establish new facilities to service submarine construction.”
She said the $30bn submarine investment was a property market transformation, and its success would rely on SA getting the supportive infrastructure right.
“The answer depends on decisions made in the next 24 months about land supply, servicing co-ordination, and precinct development priorities,” she said.
“For Adelaide’s property market, the submarine program represents the most significant demand driver in decades.”
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