Port Hedland was established in 1965 as one of Australia’s first iron ore exporting ports. Historically Port Hedland was a remote outpost on Australia’s North West coast, 1,700km from Perth. However this has all changed in the last ten years. The expansion and opening of over 20 mines in the Pilbara region have dramatically altered the town’s property market.
The sudden transformation into Australia’s largest exporting port and resultant large wage increases, combined with the town’s unique land supply constrains have made a perfect recipe for its property boom. As Australia enters the second leg of the commodities boom, these powerful forces are expected to exert strong upwards pressure on Hedland’s rents and property prices.
The two main residential centers are Port Hedland and South Hedland, with the Wedgefield Industrial area comprising of both light and service industry premises. Features now dominating the landscape of Port Hedland are the BHP Billiton Iron Ore Nelson Point crushing and shipping facility & the fast expanding area of Finucane Island.
Hedland boasts the only regional international airport in the North West, a brand new regional hospital and is Australia’s highest tonnage port, with an average of 5 iron ore tankers loaded each day of the year. Hedland is one of the world’s largest Ports in tonnage terms, with approximately 200 million tons of product being shipped each year.
With the increasing meteoric growth within the mining and resources sector over the past decade, extreme pressure has been placed on Port Hedland’s ability to accommodate the associated influx of labour into the region. Port Hedland’s current population is approximately 19,000 and according to the Western Australia Chamber of Minerals and Energy the resources sector is likely to grow by up to 70 percent by 2015. The future expansion of Port Hedland seems well assured and the area will continue as a powerhouse throughout the region, with multiple up and coming projects;
Rapid Growth (RPG) 5 worth $7.35B is underway, as is the beginning of RPG6 worth $14B, reported soon to be followed by Quantum Port 1, 2, 3 and 4. Other major projects include Atlas Iron's expansion, Fortescue Metals Group $3.2B development BC Iron and many more.
2010 is an exciting year for Port and South Hedland with a number of major mining expansions projects and major community infrastructure projects being given the green light. Expansion of the port and rail facilities has seen thousands of new workers come into the town this year; in turn this has boosted the property values and strengthened the rental market. Major projects including the new hospital, recreation centre and expansion of the South Hedland town centre are well on their way. These projects will contribute towards Port Hedland offering a basis of a substantial city centre and project a reassuring image to the new workers and families coming into the town. Undoubtedly these projects are great news for residential property owners as strengthening community and industry infrastructure, gives further strength to the local housing market.
In addition to these community facilities some $200 million is being spent in the region by the Federal and State governments on upgrading roads and bridges in the area. As part of this work the Wallwork Road Bridge will have $27 million spent on it for an expected re-opening in May next year (2011). It’s interesting to note the port capacity expansion as a result of the current extensions. This financial year is expected to see the port handle more than 200 million tons of exports via 2,600 shipments. The 2014/15 year has an anticipated 470 million ton output via 7,000 ship movements.
If that’s not enough to whet your enthusiasm for Port Hedland’s future: the reserve bank has recently stated it believed the current mining boom could last for decades on the back of growth in China and India. Reserve Bank deputy governor, Ric Bettellion said in a recent speech that the national economy stood to enjoy unprecedented riches. In our opinion one of the first locations to enjoy this will be Port Hedland!
