House prices down in March quarter

IN news that may be great for buyers and worrying for sellers, Gladstone house prices fell 2.7 per cent to an average of $365,000 during the March quarter..

Carey Hemingway prepares dinner in her new house. Picture: Amy Glass real090609

IN news that may be great for buyers and worrying for sellers, Gladstone house prices fell 2.7 per cent to an average of $365,000 during the March quarter, the latest figures have revealed.

Some are celebrating the current market conditions, like first home owner Carey Hemingway, 24, who last month snapped up a three-bedroom town house in New Auckland for $295,000.

With low interest rates, a stimulus payout and a $14,000 grant from the Federal Government, she said her and fiancé Brad would have been silly not to buy.

“The $14,000 grant was almost enough for our five per cent deposit, and once we decided we wanted a townhouse, the decision was easy,” she said.

“There are a lot of town houses on the market in Gladstone and our only problem now is finding someone to take over the lease on the house we were renting.”

Meanwhile, the latest figures are even worse for Gladstone owners of acreage houses, with values dropping by 15.3 per cent for the quarter, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) median sales data.

However, REIQ Gladstone zone chair Mark Spearing told The Observer yesterday the acreage figures were “deceptive”.

“This sector sees very low sales volumes, so one or two sales can distort any single quarter,” he said.

Mr Spearing said Gladstone had however certainly seen a fall in the real estate market across all sectors of the industry.

“There is a lack of confidence being driven by industry moving from an employment mentality to a holding mentality and the property market has followed that,” he said.

“Job insecurity is delaying purchasing decisions so we're not seeing that large influx of first home buyers that is perhaps being experienced elsewhere across the state.”

While first home buyers are not as prevalent in Gladstone, house sales less than $400,000 were underpinning the market.

He said the market above $500,000 remained “very sluggish”.

Mr Spearing said due to Gladstone's isolation, its market was more at the mercy of local conditions.

“Confidence and market conditions can change here very quickly, as it has done over the March quarter,” Mr Spearing said. “However, the construction of the proposed $8 billion LNG plant later this year will hopefully be a catalyst for a positive turnaround.”

• The average price of a house in Gladstone during the March 2009 quarter was $380,000. House prices are still up four per cent for the year to the end of March 2009.
• The average price of an acreage house Gladstone during the March 2009 quarter was $375,000, compared to an average price of $410,000 for the 12 months ending March 2008.

Originally published as House prices down in March quarter