What’s driving Mackay’s property recovery?

Several Mackay real estate agents and a respected valuer are all expecting good things in 2019, after seeing buyer sentiment bubbling on the back of major infrastructure projects and falling unemployment.

Moreover, prices are up, with the median house price having increased 4.5 per cent year-on-year and units by an impressive 11.3 per cent.

Rental vacancies have dropped below 1 per cent and there are high hopes that Indian miner Adani’s decision to self-finance its contentious Carmichael mine will lead to more jobs in a city that already has Queensland’s lowest unemployment rate.

As well as the most obvious indicator – house prices – agents such as Explore Property’s Ben Chick noted a jump in attendance at open homes, less time spent on market and a more positive outlook among buyers.

“I think people have had enough time now to understand that we’re resilient enough to be able to bounce back, which is what we’re doing now, and now we are on the radar for plenty of people moving back to to town and just moving to town,” the owner-director said.

“Those that left previously are coming back and buying and those that are here are feeling more confident about the future of Mackay.”

An open home at the weekend attracted 17 different groups, something that hadn’t happened consistently for a long time.

Gardian Real Estate agent Ben Kerrisk was similarly upbeat, saying a wide range of buyers were looking to get back into the regional market.

“We’ve found a lot of people who have virtually been out of the market for some time … they’ve just basically been waiting to see what’s happened,” he said.

“They’ve kind of realised that now prices [have] already hit bottom and they’ve bounced back up.

“There’s been a slight increase in prices so they’ve got that confidence.”

Those sentiments came on the back of a December report from valuers Herron Todd White that highlighted the resources sector recovery and a series of major infrastructure projects as factors in the city’s modest 3 per cent median house price increase.

The moderate uptick was a big turnaround for a region where, according to HTW, the average housing value loss hit and in some cases exceeded $100,000 for many who bought as the market surged between 2005 and 2013.

The city’s latest unemployment figure of 3.5 per cent continues to be the envy of the state, an impressive recovery from the 7.7 per cent rate that put the city among Queensland’s worst performers three years ago. Source: Domain.com.au