If the 2024 Mackay property market were a person, it would be spotted regularly emerging from the local gym with a smile on its face looking fit, strong and healthy and displaying the sort of energy required for continued intense activity.
Housing markets take on different looks, depending on location and their particular real estate cycle.
In recent years the Sydney market could be seen in its Dior gown and Prada bag stepping out of a limousine in all its finery and promenading along the red carpet into the latest on-trend nightclub.
At times various regional markets have been noticed working hard under the midday sun, glistening with sweat as they pour concrete and lay bricks. All hard work and no indulgence.
You would find other markets surreptitiously sneaking along darkened laneways, furtively looking over their shoulders in fear of something looming behind them.
Occasionally you would see a downtrodden real estate market in ragged old clothes begging on the street corner just hoping for a bit of luck from a passerby. “Couldn’t spare a fiver could you, old son?”
But today’s Mackay market is sporting a big grin, confidently striding along the street dressed in smart-casual clothes offering a friendly nod as it goes. Full of optimism but not an arrogant show-off.
The first quarter of this calendar year was phenomenal. I remember kicking off the working year in the second week of January with five or six listings and being blown away by the number of inquiries.
I had groups of 20 and 30-plus at open homes with multiple offers coming in thick and fast. Buyers saw value in what was being offered and prices started going above what I expected.
It wasn’t the odd property, rather it was a trend. Properties I had appraised the year before at, say $450,000, were selling in the high $400,000s. Properties that late last year would have got $570,000 were selling for $620,000.
This trend continued in February and March … and April is just as strong.
Several factors are in play. Rental vacancies continue to be low so people in Mackay and those moving here are finding it difficult to find somewhere to rent. This makes it very difficult for a lot of people and it is a horrific challenge for many tenants who aren’t getting mining wages and cannot afford the increasing prices.
But, in terms of the sales market, many people are deciding to buy rather than rent and this is adding competition to the demand and supply dynamic.
Investors from southern states are also seeing great value in the Mackay market. They see rental returns of $550 a week for properties selling in the low-$400,000s and understand the yield on their investment is better here than pretty much anywhere in the country. They are now a source of additional competition for Mackay buyers.
The underlying source of market strength is, of course, the continuing confidence in the Mackay economy. Although the economy has diversified, coal mining continues to underpin the economy and those in the sector talk about how busy they are.
No one can predict what will happen in a given market but Mackay’s high per capita wages, low unemployment, strong economy and attraction as a sea change destination with all the services people need does put it in a good position.
Of course, there are external factors to take into account and Chinese economic growth is expected to slow down in the short and medium term. However, I just saw Mackay Market walk past and it still had a spring in its step.
