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Notes from speaker — Chris Gay REIQ (30 March 2007)
Northern Queensland is one of the real success stories of the Sunshine Sate’s residential property market over the past year.
With the continuing resources boom and state-wide population growth cushioning sales from the negative effects of the drought, markets from Rockhampton to Cairns and west to Mt Isa, all experienced healthy growth in the December quarter and over the year.
The Mareeba shire’s median house price for the year ending December 2006 was $200,000 — up from $165,000 12 months before — an impressive increase or 21.2% over the year.
Median house prices in Mareeba itself increased from $170,000 to $207,750 in 2006 — a rise of 22.2%.
Kuranda medians, on acreage, also fared very well over the year with an increase of 16.3% taking its median house price from $329,000 to $382.500.
The best result for 2006, however was Mareeba homes on acreage which recorded a massive 31.7% over the pear to have a median price of approx $369,000.
Median land prices in Mareeba also showed healthy increased during 2006.
The median price of a block of land is now $69,000 with 120 blocks sold in 2006, that’s is almost double the number of blocks sold in 2005, when the median was about 58,000.
The increased number of land sales, and rise of 19.5% on the previous year, is a sign of the healthy state of the Mareeba property market, given it is still considered affordable to buy land in the shire.
About 100 acreage or land greater than 2400sq m lots were sold in Mareeba during 2006 with a median price of $140,000 — a steady increase of 12% on 2005.
A total of 558 residential sales, including houses, land, units and townhouses were recorded in Mareeba in 2006.
The Mareeba residential property market outpaced Cairns during 2006 with the Cairns LGA recording a 13.6% increase to have a median house price of $310,000 at the end of the year.
The difference in median house prices between the two shires, $200,000 in Mareeba and $310,000 in Cairns, certainly shows that Mareeba continues to be a much more affordable option for many homebuyers.
Continued confidence in Mareeba area is shown by the approval of some 831 residential property lots by Mareeba Shire Council in the last two years. Such a figure is very impressive considering in 2004, there were about 130 lots being developed that year.
Some of the larger residential developments approved include a 251 lot 800sq metre development on McIver rd, a 70-lot 800sq metre development on Ray and Cater Roads and a 66-lot sq metre development on Kennedy Highway.
Applications have also been received by Mareeba Shire Council for a further 350 lots, including separate 160-lot and 70-lot developments.
Such a number of residential developments can only further cement the future prosperity of the shire.
Population estimates for the shire also auger well for it’s future. State Government projections have Mareeba population increasing from 18,983 in 2006 to 21,149 in 20 years — an increase of approx 10.5%.
Such projections can be volatile however and given the house affordability crises now affecting most of the country, many regional areas such as Mareeba stand to benefit from population growth as more and more people head out of the cities looking for an affordable home.
The recent release of the Housing industry association annual population and residential building hotspots publication showed that regional Q recorded the largest increase in population growth of any state of territory over the last financial year. The population growth in regional Q was 2.1%.
Median weekly rents, similar to many other parts of Q have risen in Mareeba — 3 bedroom home from $175 per week in December 2006 to $230 per week in December 2006 — an increase of 24% in 12months
Tourism is still one of the main drivers of NQ economy. At Cairns airport, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Continental and Air Nuigini take up the international routes and together with the domestic airlines delivered 3.76 millon passenger movements in Cairns in 2005/2006.