As a part of the package, a $100m cash grant has been allocated to the Works for Tradies program, which supports the construction of social housing across the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Wide Bay, Moreton Bay, Toowoomba, and Ipswich areas by the end of next year.
Regional Queenslanders purchasing a newly constructed home will also receive a $5,000 grant as part of an additional $106m stimulus. The cash grant is on top of the existing $15,000 available to all Queensland first-home buyers of properties valued at less than $750,000.
A further $10m has been allotted to seniors and people with disability, who are eligible for grants of up to $5,000 to renovate and repair their homes.
The government has also set aside $50m for minor building projects in South-East Queensland and $1.175m for upgrading technical and further education campuses to support tradies in training.
Migration gives a boost
Australians looking to migrate to other states are more likely to relocate to Queensland than to any other state.
A report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which covers the movement of Australians in 2019, shows that Queensland had a net gain of 22,831 people within the country. This figure was almost double its 10-year average of 12,409.
The state has been reporting a high rate of interstate migration since 2017. Downsizers and young families are two of the most common relocators in the state.
Queensland's Sunshine Coast was the top regional destination, recording a net gain of 6,400 last year. McGrath said the job creation and the current projects in this regional centre are attracting more people.
Given the current and upcoming developments, Queensland's two regional centres actually have a higher median price than the state capital. According to CoreLogic's April 2020 report, homes had a price tag of $665,000 in the Gold Coast and $660,000 in the Sunshine Coast. On the other hand, Brisbane's median value was $508,000.
