Property Point

When I was a kid my father would often hurl the accusation at me that I was “as slow as a wet week”.

Partly that was because fathers were less patient in those days but it is also true that the description would emerge when I had been asked (let’s be honest, in those days it was an order) to do something I didn’t really want to do.

Typically, that would be a boring chore of some sort.

I can’t remember rain interfering much with my activities, limited as they were to kick a ball and ride a bike whether it was rain, wind or shine, but it is true that a wet week during school holidays did seem to drag on forever and the saying “as slow as a wet week” made sense.

Wind the clock forward and when I returned to work in mid-January this year it was a wet week, but I can tell you it was anything but slow and boring.

I had half a dozen fresh listings ready to go and as soon as they were uploaded to the real estate portals and on the market the activity was intense. Just keeping up with the buyer inquiries was hard enough, let alone arranging inspections.

The inquiries and activity meant the wet week was almost moving too fast for me to get everything done.

On my first Saturday of open homes on the 13th of January, buyers were dashing into my properties drenched but unbowed by the weather.

They ran from their cars shielded by umbrellas or simply with towels over their heads, determined to see the properties. I got more than 20 groups at every open house that day.

I reckon I could have added an obstacle course - with nasty Raiders of the Lost Ark-type challenges involving trap doors, snakes and ladders to get past - and I still would have had good numbers.

My second week back was also wet, and it also whizzed by in a frenetic flash of buyer inquiries and multiple offers on properties.

And, as the year starts to roll on, it is clear we have a strong market at the moment with good buyer demand and their enthusiasm won’t be diminished by a wet season.

There are a mix of buyers - young people getting into the market, people moving to Mackay for work and lifestyle opportunities, older people moving here to be close to kids and grandkids and the usual array of people downsizing or upsizing.

But there is a new breed of beast in the jungle, one that was sighted over the past year or two, but which has now grown bigger, hungrier, and more determined … the southern investor.

Investors from southern states have worked out that Mackay’s relatively high rents and low sale prices offer an excellent yield for investment properties.

They see an opportunity to get a very good, positively geared return on a property that is much cheaper and more accessible than in southern markets. They are often willing to pay more than locals because they see the value even if they pay 10 or 20 grand more to get the property.

The mix of buyers and level of activity is creating opportunities for sellers because there is not much on the market … plenty of buyers but not many properties for sale.

I am getting phone calls from buyers’ agents from down south and investors saying they are ready to buy in Mackay and to let them know as soon as I get new listings.

The rules of demand and supply tell us that there are good opportunities for sellers right now because they don’t have much competition.

Just like a wet week, that will end one day.

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