From the work underway to revitalise Civic Square to refurbishment of shops and renovations to encompass inner-city living, confidence is high, according to builders.

Tas City Building director Steven Simeoni said work has increased quite a bit in the central city with tenancies being upgraded and real estate selling fast.

“I have about three mainland clients now that are investing in Launceston and that’s only a recent thing, my main one, who has a fair bit of property, he researched Hobart then he looked a bit further and Launceston was just really well priced and he has made a lot of money already,” Mr Simeoni said.

“All the builders that we deal with are pretty busy and there is more work coming as well. We have two more jobs in town and there is a big St John Street opportunity for someone [at] the Tatler arcade.”

There is value for money by building, refurbishing or buying in Launceston, according to Mr Simeoni.

“There’s a lot of inner-city living as well, we are building two big units in Charles Street and the council’s inner-city living opportunity is helping,” he said.

Launceston Chamber of Commerce president Tim Holder said it was a very different building environment than four years ago.

“Architects and builders are busier than they can remember in recent times and this can be further evidence by some trades charging record hourly rates, such as electricians, just due to the amount of work,” he said.

“There is a really deep sense of optimism in the minds of people who live here but also people who are choosing to relocate here.”

Mr Holder said there were several architectural firms working on apartment block plans both within the CBD and close to the city.

AirBnB is also impacting the market, especially with cottages and properties with close proximity to the CBD, with quality property tight and selling fast, he said.

In terms of retail development, Mr Holder said the only limit was the supply of premises.

“Bernard Salt noted recently in Launceston, that unlike Tasmania and Australia in aggregate, Launceston is losing retail jobs, and is out of sync,” he said. “We should carefully consider how this is the case and if development is too hard in Launceston.”