Property Point

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times in this city as we head into the Christmas period. With  apologies to Charles Dickens, Mackay is a tale of two cities.

The first tale of our city is a great story about home owners and how their investment is experiencing strong growth.

After a horrible downturn from 2013 to about 2018, Mackay property prices are solidly and consistently growing. Prices continued to grow this year and the market is reflecting the energetic economy that is keeping everyone busy.

The mining sector is going well and, despite interest rate rises and high inflation, the rest of the economy is also powering along.

The property market has benefitted from a continuing influx of southerners who are moving to our town due to work or lifestyle changes. There are also those families from “over the hill” who are moving to Mackay to have easier access to sports and other facilities their kids need.

The strong economy and terrific lifestyle is keeping people here and that, combined with the additional “migrants”, has created a shortage of rental properties.

This combination of factors is pushing up rental prices and helping create a strong demand in property sales.

Many people are deciding that the difficulty of finding a rental property and the increasing rents mean it makes sense to buy in Mackay.

That demand for properties is pushing prices up, not at a crazy speed but creating solid growth. Compared to most of the country, our median price of around the $450,000 mark is much more affordable and adds to the logic of buying here.

So, happy days in this little tale. It’s a great time to be doing business in Mackay and there are certainly terrific opportunities for those of us selling real estate.

But there is another tale … the one about the growing number of people with nowhere to live.

You can see these people in the City Heart, down by the river and wherever they can find shelter. It is the downside of what is a positive story for many of us.

I am not sure what the solution is. We can’t suddenly create new housing for homeless people. And one of the problems for the homeless is trying to navigate their way out of it.

How do you get a place to live when you have no job? How do you find a job when you’ve got nowhere to live? A vicious cycle that offers little hope.

Demand and supply determines the price of things and there are two sides to that economic equation. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want us going back to the days of rental vacancies of nearly 10 per cent.

The people I work for, property owners, benefit from the shortage of supply and high demand. And, as a real estate agent, I benefit from that same dynamic. Like everyone in the business community, by working hard and staying focused, energised and committed, I will get the rewards offered by a vibrant town with a strong, active economy.

So, with Christmas approaching it is a reminder to be thankful for those of us who love this city and enjoy the employment and financial opportunities it presents, the friendships it creates and the lifestyle it offers.

But it’s not like that for everyone and a significant part of the culture of Mackay is that its residents dig in to help those doing it tough.

The guidance needs to come from those at local and state government level who are elected to deal with this stuff. They are not doing a very good job so, with state and local government elections coming up this year, the community needs to apply some pressure, demand some solutions.

This is my last column for the year and I wish both my readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Stay safe and I’ll catch you back on these pages in 2024.