No ‘cooling off’ period as regional QLD property boom heats up

Samantha Healy19 Jun 2021

The property boom in regional Queensland continues to gather steam with no signs of the traditional winter cooling off period.

There are now 146 “rising” markets across the regions – up from 72 just six months ago.

And of the nation’s Top 100 Supercharged Suburbs, 15 are located outside of the Greater Brisbane region, according to The Price Predictor Index Winter 2021 Edition by Terry Ryder from Hotspotting.

They include suburbs in the council regions of the Gold Coast (Runaway Bay, Ashmore), Sunshine Coast (Alexandra Headland), Scenic Rim (Beaudesert), Bundaberg (Burnett Heads), Fraser Coast (Burrum Heads, Point Vernon), Toowoomba (East Toowoomba, Newtown, South Toowoomba), Central Highlands (Emerald), South Burnett (Kingaroy), Southern Downs (Warwick) and Rockhampton (Norman Gardens, Yeppoon).

But even the report admits there are many more high-performing suburbs across the state.

Toowoomba was one of four Queensland council regions pegged as a “national growth star”, noting the inland city was a beneficiary of two powerful trends – the exodus to affordable lifestyle and the infrastructure-led recovery.

The report said Toowoomba was being targeted by both homebuyers and investors.

Elsewhere, the report said the “record performance on sales activity and prices” was continuing, with the number of rising markets down only slightly on the previous quarter.

This, according to the report, was due to an easing of buyer activity in places like the Sunshine Coast, however the region remained the “state market leader on price growth in the

past 12 months”.

On the Gold Coast, the unrelenting property boom continues, with the city attracting huge demand from interstate buyers and expats.

But one of the most improved markets was also the slowest out of the gate in terms of sales activity and price growth.

“The biggest improver is Cairns, where the number of growth suburbs has risen from nine (in our survey three months ago) to 13,” the report revealed.

Those suburbs include Bayview Heights, Cairns City, Cairns North, Manoora, Manunda, Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Smithfield, Trinity Beach, Westcourt, White Rock, Whitfield and Yorkeys Knob.

“Numerous suburbs of Cairns have delivered big growth in the past 12 months, with Caravonica rising 26 per cent

to $485,000 and Palm Cove up 22 per cent to $745,000,” according to the report.

“Other suburbs with double-digit growth include Gordonvale, Holloways Beach, Port Douglas and White Rock.”

This stunning Port Douglas home recently changed hands for $1.225 million

RE/MAX Cairns principal agreed the market was on the move, adding the region was seeing a lot more buyers from down south.

“Cairns is a great place and for those people who can work from home, it is a desirable place to live,” he said.

“We haven’t had the severe lockdowns seen down south, and I think with more people able to holiday here, they are seeing the lifestyle up here.

“We are also seeing a lot of people buying sight unseen, making the most of virtual platforms.”

Mr Murphy said the region was also experience record-low vacancy rates and high rental returns, making local property a good investment.

“Money in the bank is doing nothing, but rental returns are going gangbusters,” he said.

In Townsville, the recovery from rock bottom continues, with eight suburbs considered rising markets.

They include Annandale, Bushland Beach, Douglas, Idalia, Kelso, Kirwan, Mount Louisa and North Ward.

Winter is traditionally the time when we get people visiting from down south, so we could actually get even busier in terms of intrastate and interstate buyer activity,” she said.

Ms Mahoney said that while the Townsville boom had been strongly led by locals, there were plenty of buyers looking north from Brisbane and interstate.

But Ms Mahoney said there was still “some room to move” in terms of prices, predicting values would continue to rise this year.

“People forget that we are coming off a low base, a very low base in some suburbs, and it was not that long ago when our vacancies were up around 8-9 per cent,” she said.

“Back then, we saw severe job losses and huge vacancy rates, we saw investors selling up, interest rates were not that low, and there were mortgagee sales.

“Now we have record low interest rates, records low vacancies, and when an investor sells, often it is picked up by an owner-occupier.”

Elsewhere, growth markets have increased from eight to nine in Mackay, and from six to seven in Rockhampton.

Toowoomba has continued its rise and now has 11 suburbs with rising sales activity, as does the Fraser Coast market centred on Hervey Bay.

“The Sunshine Coast is the standout market for price growth,” the report said, noting there were 27 suburbs where the median house price had increased by more than 10 per cent in the past 12 months.

In Mackay, the suburb of Sarina is leading the charge with house values up 32 per cent to $375,000 in 12 months.

It is followed by North Mackay (up 22% to $320,000) and East Mackay (up 19% to $410,000).

Other notable growth markets include Clermont (up 28% to $255,000), Bowen (up 20% to $300,000), North Ward in Townsville (up 29% to $720,000), Berserker in Rockhampton (up 16% to $225,000) and Moranbah (up 17% to $285,000).