Colgate used to advertise the “ring of confidence” that its product gave the users of its toothpaste and it is something that could be applied to Mackay right now.
Nothing is more important than confidence when it comes to a real estate market and there are some important indicators you can look at in order to gauge the level of confidence in a particular market.
I don’t have a crystal ball and there are no 100 per cent guarantees in life but it seems to me there are plenty of key indicators that give reason to observe the ring of confidence around the real estate market in this town.
Look at the number of childcare centres that are being built and planned.
A huge one is being built in Juliet St opposite Harrup Park, while there is another being built in the city in Carlyle St.
More are planned in West Mackay, Glenella and the Northern Beaches, and that’s just the ones I know about.
I reckon a proliferation of childcare centres is a pretty good indicator of confidence in a city. Those making the enormous investment in building them are backing the idea of a growing population of young people having families.
For that to happen there have to be work opportunities created in a buoyant economy stimulated by business confidence and a belief in the long-term viability of the region. You don’t build childcare centres if you reckon the place is going backwards.
And companies like Aldi don’t invest millions of dollars building a supermarket unless they are confident about the economic future of a particular market. Witness the construction underway near the Wake Park in Andergrove.
One of the drivers of confidence is our coal. Almost all of the coal we produce and export in our region is coking coal or metallurgical coal and the sector is finally referring to it in the easy-to-understand term “steel-making coal”. It’s not thermal coal, it’s not for power plants and we ain’t transitioning out of it. Another ring of confidence.
The State Government was recently talking up the role our sugar industry is going to have in a future 1000-hectare industrial hub between Racecourse mill and Rosella, which will focus on biomanufacturing, renewable energy and green jet fuel.
There is another plan for plastic manufacturing using sugar cane that will rely on the planned massive hydro scheme in the Pioneer Valley.
The continuing demand for our steel-making coal, the planned diversification of our economy to take advantage of the renewable energy push and net zero ambitions and the potential for our outstanding manufacturing credentials to flourish further are all good reasons for a real estate sector ring of confidence.
