Property Point

Historically high work participation, lots of job vacancies, seriously strong population growth, rental and sales prices up by 10 per cent in the past financial year putting median house prices in Mackay up above the $500,000 mark.
That was the message from Knight Frank Managing Director Craig Stack at a recent Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) function in Mackay.
The facts and figures were a confirmation of the “feeling” that we have all had about how this city and region are on the move.
We all know that demand and supply are the key drivers of economic activities and the combination of population growth, strong business activity and increasing rents have all had a role in housing activity in Mackay.
Mr Stack’s figures showed that 112,400 people are currently employed in the Mackay region, significantly up from 65,900 in June 2001. Our unemployment rate is 2.8 per cent, virtually non-existent.
The figures showed that the median house price moved to $500,000 in the 2023-2024 financial year. However, Mr Stack said that figure had already climbed to $530,000 from June to August this year.
So, while there was a 10 per cent increase in the median price in the 2023-2024 financial year, there was a further 6 per cent increase from June to August.
And, while the population has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, the number of weekly sales has dropped. While it was 63 properties a week in 2003, it was 46 in 2012, 56 in 2022 and 50 in the financial year 2023-2024.
As for average days on market, Mr Stack’s figures showed Mackay’s sat at 11 days in the last financial year, compared to 22 days in Brisbane and 32 in the Gold Coast.
The average rent on a two-bedroom unit was about $260 a week in June 2019 but that has increased to $450 a week this year. A four-bedroom house rented out on average for $400 a week in June 2019 and in June this year that figure had increased to $650 a week.
As for rental vacancies, they were at 3.6 per cent in June 2019. It is now at 0.6 per cent.
And Mr Stack indicated that the research shows continuing growth in rents of 5 per cent and 7 per cent until early next year at the earliest.
He is also predicting a median sales price growth of 5 per cent to 8 per cent to June next year, so whether it is rents or sales, prices look like they are still going up.
Mr Stack said Mackay has the capacity to provide 2000-3000 detached houses at the moment, which he points out is simply not enough to meet the market demand.
Mr Stack, like the rest of us, cannot predict the future and there are certainly issues such as an economic slow-down in China, a drop in the price of iron ore and coking coal and other geo-political issues on the horizon that means nothing is certain.
But I do know that investors from southern markets are injecting themselves in a big way in the Mackay market and they are having a significant role in pushing the prices up.
Those investors see strong rental returns on what they feel are affordably priced properties and they want a piece of the action.
I am not here to tell people what to do or to predict what is going to happen from here but it would be a shame to see local people miss out on the current buying opportunities only to see prices go even higher in the years ahead.
You can still buy a two-bedroom unit for under $300,000. Maybe it will stay like that for a long time … maybe not.

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