There’s a pattern that plays out every time a major highway gets upgraded. First, the infrastructure arrives. Then the population follows. Then the people who bought early look very, very clever.
Most people today drive the Barton Highway and think nothing of it. A bit of a drag between Canberra and Yass, maybe a few roadworks, home in time for dinner. What they’re missing is a $200 million government investment, and one of the most undervalued commercial corridors in regional New South Wales quietly getting ready to go off like a frog in a sock.
In 2024, we published a white paper on the Barton Highway duplication that pulled together population forecasts, economic growth projections, infrastructure timelines and property data for the corridor between Canberra and Yass. We did it because we kept telling people this region was a potential goldmine and “trust me bro” – as the kids say – was wearing a little thin as a source. So we figured it was time to show our working.
What we presented was that the Yass Valley LGA is forecast to grow by more than 70% over the next decade. Murrumbateman’s median house price has gone from just over $400,000 in 2010 to north of $900,000 today – and the million dollar median is closing in fast.
On top of that, my damn phone won’t stop ringing – our enquiries are running about 50% higher than three years ago, and the Barton Highway itself is expected to carry 21,000 vehicles a day by 2037, up from around 13,000 now (provided they can still afford to fill their tank, of course.)
Stage one of the duplication was completed in February 2024, and stages two through five are in the pipeline. When it’s done, we’ll have a continuous duplicated carriageway connecting Canberra to Yass that is faster, safer, and built to handle the incoming traffic boom.
Anyone who noticed Toowoomba’s growth after the Second Range Crossing, or Jugiong quietly reinvent itself after the Hume Highway bypass, will recognise the pattern. Infrastructure comes first. Growth follows.
Which brings me to the reason this landed in your inbox today.
We’ve just listed a DA-approved highway service centre site between Murrumbateman and Yass. Twelve and a half hectares. Full Barton Highway frontage. Development approval locked in. Thirteen reports done. Three-phase power within 200 metres. Commercial bore with easement access 200 metres off-site. Two tanks included in the approved plans.
The vendors are a family from a healthcare background who spent years navigating the planning and approvals process themselves. They did it properly, they did it thoroughly, and now they’re passing a genuinely shovel-ready asset to someone with the fuel retail expertise to take it across the line.
Currently, highway service infrastructure along this stretch is limited, and traffic volumes are growing. The approvals are done. The hard yards are done. Someone just needs to build the thing.
So if you know someone who can, encourage them to give me a call 0429 838 345.
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