This month, NextHotSpot.com.au has contributed the market report for QUEENSLAND
Southeast Queensland is Australia’s strongest population growth corridor, with Ipswich continuing to perform, parts of Brisbane looking primed for growth, and the Gold Coast still problematic. Queensland’s massive resources sector offers benefits to Brisbane and Mackay property as FIFO workers continue to spend where they live. Port capacity is key to industry, and cities with this facility and lifestyle appeal have bright futures.
Mackay has emerged from Gladstone’s shadow over the past couple of years and is an excellent investment destination in its own right. Obviously, no two areas or properties are identical, but there are strong similarities in investment and infrastructure. Port cities have a walk-up start on other areas because of the expense and time involved in creating an effective port. Export income depends on being able to get your goods to market, and without port facilities this could not happen.
There are few straight lines in property investment, and even strong markets will experience peaks and troughs in what is an overall upward trend. While we generally advise against trying to pick these short-term movements, we are seeing ebbs and flows in Gladstone, Mackay and Bowen – all key ports in the massive Queensland coal supply chain. Of these centres, Bowen has the most fragile property pricing, given its small population, and we recommend holding off on the town until later this year.
Typically, the construction phase of major projects will employ significantly more workers than are required to operate them, and we’re seeing major projects in transition in all these centres. Combined with the ininfluence of new housing coming onto the market, there appears to be a relatively short-term dip in demand. As production starts to create export income, all these areas o er the promise of more growth, but we can afford to watch them for a few months yet.
FIFO and DIDO workers are an important component of the Queensland mining workforce, and the recent federal government report on FIFO named Brisbane and Mackay as the centres that benefit most from this dynamic. Townsville, Rockhampton and Toowoomba all look good this year – and a case is emerging for a revival of sorts on the Sunshine Coast and the Whitsundays.
