PROPERTY POINT

When Mackay people gather for weekend barbies with friends and chat about the issues of the day, the conversation invariably leads to a discussion about the best-looking real estate agents in town.

While opinions vary on different agents, I am consistently named in the Top 98 Best-Looking Agents in Mackay.

Some say that, considering my competition, Number 98 is not that great and others point out that numbers 99 and 100 are absolute shockers.

The truth is I have to put a lot of effort into maintaining my standing in the Top 98 and I am far from complacent about my position on the good-looking list.

Diet and exercise are important and my preferred form of physical activity is running.

I like to run in the morning and, while I prefer to do so in daylight, sometimes I wake up during the night, toss and turn for a while and decide to go for a run and go back to bed for a bit more sleep after the run.

I live in West Mackay near Nebo Road, which is beautifully lit up at night so it is a fantastic night-time running track.

The other night I woke up about 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I grabbed the dog and we went for a run.

The first thing you notice about Nebo Road at that time of day is how quiet it is now that we have a Ring Road. No more trucks and other vehicles powering their way through the city. The road is now eerily peaceful late at night.

The second thing I noticed as I ran along the footpath was the No Vacancy signs on all the motels. Not one vacancy in all the motels on Nebo Road.

I remember when the real estate downturn kicked in around 2013 that one of the things we noticed was that all the Nebo Road motels had Vacancy signs. The mine workers had stopped coming, business travellers no longer had prospects in Mackay and the motel rooms were empty.

“Vacancy” was a sign of the times.

The question now is whether “No Vacancy” is going to be a continuing sign of these different times.

For all the national media talk about inflation, interest rates, economic pain and housing downturns, the motel rooms are full on Nebo Road, unemployment is virtually non-existent in Mackay, residential rental vacancies are under 1 per cent and business is good.

Two of my properties had more than 30 groups of buyers at open homes in July and inquiries continue to be strong, another good sign of the times.

If our resources sector continues to do well, Mackay might avoid the downturn that is closing in on southern states. Economic pain in the south might lead to a migration to Mackay of people looking for work.

A thriving coal sector is the key as it will drive the rest of our economy. I’ll be keeping an eye on the No Vacancy signs on Nebo Road.

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