Strongest regional Queensland market in six years: Hotspotting's Terry Ryder
This is the strongest Regional Queensland market in the six years that Hotspotting has been conducting its quarterly surveys of sales activity and prices. The number of rising markets is the highest recorded, by a considerable margin, and property values are growing.
We have identified 72 locations with rising sales activity, a remarkable result in the year of the pandemic. Locations across the state are benefiting from the Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle and/or the improvement in the resources sector. Vacancies are ultra-low in most of these places.
There are seven regional cities with five or more suburbs with forward momentum in sales activity: the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Townsville. These cities, plus smaller regional centres like Gympie, Emerald, Warwick, Kingaroy and Dalby, all have markets trending in the right direction for sustained price growth.
The Sunshine Coast is again the standout location, but other regional markets are emerging, notably the important inland city of Toowoomba. And we are seeing recovery in resources-related centres which have spent several years in downturn, including Gladstone, Mount Isa and Emerald.
The exceptions to the trend of upwardly-mobile markets are Cairns and the Fraser Coast, neither of which appear to be experiencing the uplift seen elsewhere.
The Sunshine Coast continues to be one the nation’s outstanding property markets. There are 14 suburbs with rising sales activity and seven with consistent sales volumes. Neighbouring Noosa has two growth suburbs.
The Sunshine Coast is outperforming the Gold Coast, which is a much larger city but has only seven growth suburbs, as well as 12 consistent ones.
Toowoomba is the new contender, as its economy rises on the back of significant new infrastructure. Eight suburbs have rising sales activity and we expect prices to rise considerably.
Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville each has between five and seven suburbs with rising momentum.
Gladstone’s re-emergence as a growth market is notable, after half a dozen years in downturn: vacancies are now low, sales activity is picking up and prices are now responding.
Markets across Regional Queensland are performing well on price growth: almost three-quarters of locations across Regional Queensland have had annual growth in their median house prices and a similar number of towns and suburbs have had uplift in the most recent quarter.
The Sunshine Coast continues to impress as one of the nation’s strongest markets, with price uplift in particular in the top end of the markets.
Sunshine Beach, the most expensive suburb on the coast, has recorded a 33% annual rise in its median house price, now $1,750,000. The canal-based suburb of Minyama has increased 29% in the past 12 months to $1,190,000. Yandina (median house price $730,000) has increased 30%.
The market in and around Noosa is a particular standout, with Sunshine Beach up 33%, Sunrise Beach up 17% and Noosaville up 12%. Mooloolaba (median price $900,000) has risen 10% and Moffat Beach (median price $910,000) is up 12%.
The Gold Coast has some notable growth performances also, with Worongary (30%), Runaway Bay (14%), Miami (12%), Arundel (15%) and Burleigh Heads (15%) all recording growth annual growth.
A number of Central Queensland are rising, including Mackay (where Andergrove, Blacks Beach, South Mackay and North Mackay have all recorded double-digit annual growth) and Rockhampton (where Berserker has led the growth with a 27% increase).
Gladstone continues to deliver evidence of recovery from a lengthy downturn, with median house price growth in suburbs such as Calliope (10%), Clinton (12%), West Gladstone (18%) and Tannum Sands (11%).
Central Queensland resources towns like Moranbah (up 23%) and Clermont (up 10%) are also recovering, albeit from a very low base. Chinchilla on the Western Downs is in a similar position, with its median house price rising 15% in the past year after several years of decline.
TERRY RYDER is the founder of hotspotting.com.au
