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These days there are experts in virtually everything and those experts are always happy to voice their options, bestow their knowledge.
I am finding there has been a sudden increase in property market experts.
I was going to say the list of experts extends to Every Man and His Dog but that is a sexist exclusion of half the human population and does not take into account the feline opinion.
Everyone has an opinion about property markets generally and there is no lack of noise in the national media about “the market”. One of the things to consider is that the national media is pretty much focused on Sydney, Melbourne and the other state capitals.
But there is no lack of local opinion about the Mackay market. Some buyers will tell you it’s cooled off and they are hoping it has.
I have noticed that activity continues to be strong. Some people who were “doing research” and popping into open homes for a bit of a look this year have taken a “wait and see” approach.
There are some buyers who are being cautious, listening to the media reports and taking their time with their purchase.
But there are plenty of buyers out there and plenty of properties are being sold. And that’s because, in terms of the fundamentals, nothing has changed.
Unemployment is virtually non-existent in Mackay, rental vacancies remain under 1 per cent and our resource sector-driven economy is performing extremely well and helping power the state.
Renters who discover their rent has gone up again are deciding that buying is still the best option and people moving to town are still seeing that it is very difficult to find a rental and many of them are still buying.
The other group that continues to grow is the southern investor.
People in NSW and Victoria are very aware that their markets are falling and many have discovered a much more affordable option in Mackay with low rental vacancies and a far better rental yield than is available in their home states.
Those investors come from cities where prices are in the $800,000-$1.5m range and are picking up properties in Mackay in the far less-riskier $200,000-$450,000 price range. Importantly they are able to positively gear their investments because of the very good rental returns in Mackay.
I am not going to predict what will happen to the Mackay market but the fundamentals that have been driving our strong market have not changed and rising interest rates on our much smaller mortgages don’t have the impact that they are having in Sydney and Melbourne.
Plenty of people are seizing the opportunities and I am looking forward to a strong finish to the year.
