Canberrans will be forced to compete with more Sydney-based buyers interested in snaring a coastal property in the burgeoning Eurobodalla market.
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Forecasters predicted a property boom in Eurobodalla at the start of 2017 and the region's realtors have witnessed continued housing market growth.
House prices across the shire rose 13.4 per cent in the 12 months to June.
Median house prices jumped from $392,250 in June 2016 to $445,000 this year.
Investors interest has been bolstered by a 14.3 per cent lift in average rental prices for houses which grew from $350 per week to $400 per week in the past 12 months.
Elders Real Estate agent John Haslem said a shift in the psyche and ongoing development in the seaside town had driven a recent market boost – the first since the plateau of the 2008 global financial crisis.
Mr Haslem said Batemans Bay was no longer "Canberra's beach" as interest from city dwellers started to change the landscape for buyers.
"A decade ago, 80 per cent of interest in Batemans Bay property came from Canberra, probably 15 per cent from western NSW and only five per cent from Sydney. Now you'd have to say at least 25 per cent was coming from Sydney people."
Turnover has been increasing with 1000 properties expected to be sold this year, a significant leap beyond 600 typically sold annually.
Rental interest was coming mainly from try-before-you-buy retirees exploring the area or renting whilst building elsewhere, and tenants looking for affordable alternatives to bigger cities.
Mr Haslem felt investor confidence was unlikely to dwindle anytime soon with the introduction of large consumer stores such as Bunnings, a refurbishment of the marina and the NSW government pledge to spent $300 million building bridges at Batemans Bay and Nelligen.
"Once those projects get underway there is going to be a great need for rental accommodation for that workforce, which may only be for a couple of years, but that will underpin the current increases in rent," he said.
While stamp duty exemptions for first-home buyers from July 1 are believed to have triggered a dip in sales in June, this is expected to be short-lived.
