After a year of continued growth, the Townsville property market is set to lift further in 2024 off the back of strong demand and population growth, a new market analysis has found.
In the latest Herron Todd White Month in Review, Kevin Brogan, head of group risk and compliance, said interest rates had been the main talking point in the residential real estate market in 2023 after rate rises in February, March, May, June and November.
“In many markets, properties have simply not come on to the market and the demand for homes has outstripped the supply of dwellings, causing prices to continue to rise, despite the total 1.25 per cent increase in mortgage rates during 2023,” he said.
“As is often the case, the headline figures can mask significant diversity between market segments defined by geographical area and price level, however one characteristic is shared by most markets and that is resilience in the face of escalating serviceability challenges due to interest rate increases.
“Some of the stronger markets have been urban fringe or regional locations.”
Townsville Herron Todd White valuer, Connor Bryant said 2023 had been an “intriguing year” for regional Queensland property markets, including Townsville.
“A flurry of interstate investors has allowed the (Townsville) market to continue its growth from 2022,” he said.
“A large quantity of transactions throughout the year have involved buyer’s agents working for big city investors, driving the rental market.
“Agents have reported that in the past six months, stock has been in short supply despite the number of prospective buyers remaining at an all-time high.
“A number of high sale prices have been seen in the investor market as a number of groups attempt to force their way into the market despite the high prices.”
Mr Bryant said the most sought-after properties in the Townsville region were rural residential lifestyle blocks.
“All of these properties from Alligator Creek to Bluewater Park have been achieving strong sale prices, not only for established stock, but also for buyers looking to go down the path of construction,” he said.
Mr Bryant said the Townsville building industry was seeing improvement.
“The most welcome surprise of 2023 has been the way local builders have managed to navigate the intense quantity of work they have accepted since the boom of Covid,” he said.
“It now appears that build times are returning to normal and the higher build contracts are becoming the norm.”
Mr Bryant said employment opportunities in Townsville continued to drive population growth, while a large migration of defence personnel and their families was expected to put further pressure on the property market.
“This comes after Defence Housing Australia (DHA) sold a large quantity of its stock, which could produce an interesting market dynamic for coming years,” he said.
According to figures from DHA in September, the organisation was providing 1174 dwellings for defence families in Townsville with a vacancy rate of 3.8 per cent at that time.
News Corp reported about 500 troops would relocate to Townsville across six years, on top of 4000 ADF personnel already based in the NQ city.
A DHA spokesperson said DHA had a proud history of supporting defence personnel in Townsville, and took its responsibility to the region seriously.
“We maintain a significant portfolio of housing in the Townsville (region) … providing strong support for troops,” the spokesperson said.
“We ensure that all ADF members posted to Townsville … who require and are eligible for a DHA managed property are accommodated.
“DHA continues to work closely with the Department of Defence to establish housing requirements in each region and forecast future needs of the Defence Force to support any troop movement.”
Originally published as Townsville real estate growth to continue
