A pharmacy in Coonabarabran, a tyre and auto centre in Wagga Wagga, a grocer and cafe at Wisemans Ferry on the Hawkesbury River, and a childcare centre on the Central Coast all sold at a portfolio auction in Sydney on Tuesday as investors saw good buying opportunities in regional areas.

Highlighting this appetite, a chemist in Coonabarabran – a small town 500km north-west of Sydney known as the “astronomy capital of Australia” – generated more than 120 enquiries and sold before auction to a local pharmacist for $715,000 on a 6.15 per cent yield.