VACANCY RATE ESSENTIALS: 20 AREAS WITH VACANCY RATES UNDER 2% AND REASONS TO CONSIDER THEM:

The Job Creation Engine: 665 Reasons to Buy Nowra

When a market is fuelled by infrastructure, the first thing to look for is the jobs created. This isn’t some short-term event like a music festival or a temporary mining boom. This is essential service infrastructure that is going to be running 24/7 for the next 50 years.

The figures are staggering:

• Hundreds of jobs are being created right now during the construction phase. These workers need rental accommodation, injecting immediate cash into the local economy.
• The real prize: an estimated 665 new, permanent, ongoing jobs once the hospital is fully operational.

Think about the quality of those jobs. We are talking about doctors, specialist nurses, technicians, and administrative staff. This reinforces Health Care and Social Assistance as one of the most vital employment sectors in the entire Shoalhaven region. These are high-income, secure, and recession-proof tenants and owner-occupiers.

This is not a theoretical boom. This is a guaranteed injection of high-value human capital into the region. Every single one of those 665 new employees (plus their partners and families) needs a bed, a kitchen, and a roof over their head.

The Housing Demand Pressure Cooker

The core of the issue is simple: demand is about to skyrocket, and supply cannot keep up.

The local government knows this is a problem. They are actively trying to solve it, which itself is a massive signal to investors. You have state-led initiatives like the proposal to deliver up to 380 new homes—including social, affordable, and, crucially, key worker housing—in the nearby Mandalay Precinct.

But let’s be realistic. These housing projects move very slowly (rezoning has to happen first. This usually takes years BEFORE any actual development can occur), and also draw their own demand – meaning they will fill over time with or without the hospital workers as local buyers and new arrivals from Sydney and Canberra come looking for affordable relocation and retirement options. When you add 665 new workers to a region already projected to grow by 16% by 2036, that supply injection acts more like a temporary patch than a permanent fix.  Just announcing a future potential rezone sounds great for the politicians, but does nothing to address the supply demand imbalance that is coming. 

Workers and their families are going to need actual homes in the region, and fast.

This is the psychology of the local growth cycle, but in slow motion.

As the hospital completion nears, you’ll see the arrival of staff who have accepted positions but haven’t secured a rental or a home yet. You might not even see it in the media; but those workers will be a factor in the market, leading to competition, tighter vacancy rates, and upward pressure on prices.

For investors, this means two things are coming:

1. Robust Capital Growth: Driven by employed singles and couples competing for a limited pool of housing.
2. Strong Rental Yields: Supported by the volume of new professional workers relocating and needing immediate accommodation.

More Than Just a Hospital: It’s a Regional Health Hub

The benefits of the expansion extend beyond just the immediate employment numbers. This massive investment ensures the hospital becomes the central health hub for the entire region.

It is delivering facilities that radically improve local care:

• A new Emergency Department (ED) and a larger Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
• A dedicated cardiology unit and an acute aged care ward.
• A new mental health ward.

This means the area will attract an ecosystem of related services—private clinics, specialist rooms, and support businesses—meaning an increasing medical precinct in Nowra. This strengthens the economic base and is a stable evergreen industry, much less cyclical than tourism or mining. This is the multiplier effect in action.

Want to benefit: Don’t wait too long.

Every investor wants the “road less travelled,” but most end up following the crowd. The beauty of infrastructure-led property investing is that the road map is laid out by the government in advance—you just have to read the signs.

The $438 million investment is a flashing, neon sign saying: DEMAND IS COMING.

Your job is to now cut through the noise, ignore the day-to-day media hysteria, and focus on the micro-markets in Nowra that will benefit most directly from this influx of key workers.

You need expertise to know:

• How to avoid the rough areas of public housing or other significant no go zones.
• Which areas offer the best proximity and transport links for the hospital staff?
• Which pockets are being overlooked but offer great amenity?
• Which property type is best positioned for the steepest yield increase?
• How to negotiate and secure the right property now, before those 665 new workers start their rental/purchase search.
• How to assess the risks of bushfire, flood and other natural issues. 

Don’t wait until the local news reports start screaming about a rental crisis. Don’t wait until your weekend open homes are shoulder-to-shoulder with incoming hospital staff. If you are considering a purchase in the Nowra area now could be a time to be decisive, choose quality, and get ahead of the herd.