Why Gympie’s 10-year residential land supply might not be enough

The Gympie region might appear to be sitting pretty when it comes to having enough vacant land for new homes into the immediate future, but one expert believes the stockpile could quickly disappear.

Figures revealed by the State Government this week show as of December 2020 the Gympie region had 9.6 years’ worth of approved lots – land ready to go to the market.

A housing crisis might be gripping Queensland, but the Gympie region has enough land available to build new homes for the next decade.

Will that be enough, though?

The region is experiencing a growth rate higher than any of the country’s capital cities, and this has raised concerns that its vacant land could be eaten up much faster than people think.

State Government figures revealed this week show that as of December 2020, the region had 9.6 years’ worth of approved lots – land ready to go to the market – available across the region.

This was in stark contrast to neighbouring regions: Noosa only had 1.1 years’ supply available, while the Sunshine and Gold Coasts each had 1.9 years’ supply and Brisbane had 2.9 years’ worth of approved vacant land left.

Under State Government rules all local government areas should have four years’ supply of approved lots available.

The Southside is one area where land is available, and it is a designated growth area.

To the region’s north the Fraser Coast had 8.8 years’ worth available, while Bundaberg had 14.9 year.

Outliers included Gladstone (248.9 years), Banana (354 years) and Isaac (363 years).

In the past year housing approvals across the Gympie region have doubled, and in May the region recorded a 2.7 per cent growth rate according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

Martoo Consulting owner Greg Martoo, who lodged his first development application in Gympie in 1973, said the run on residential land in the region right now was unprecedented.

“I’ve never seen it at this rate before,” Mr Martoo said.

Greg Martoo says the rate of land being snapped up across the region was the fastest he had seen.

And although there was enough land zoned across the region, infrastructure was a problem.

He pointed to the Southside as an example.

Mr Martoo said there was land available “but there’s limited infrastructure there”.

Residential properties was not the only development type facing this problem.

It was a similar story for serviced industrial land.

He said the Gympie Regional Council had “heaps” of industrial areas zoned or under investigation, but the lack of infrastructure like sewerage and water pipes made developing them a challenge.

Deputy Premier Dr Steven Miles revealed the region’s land supply during budget estimates hearings. Pics Tara Croser.

“The long term outlook of that is a bit of a concern.”

There was still good news on the horizon though.

Mr Martoo said the Gympie Bypass would be a boon for the region when it finally opened, pulling large volumes of traffic out of the city and opening up opportunities for developments along the new route.

The numbers were revealed by Deputy Premier Steven Miles during the budget estimates hearing, who said 50,000 lots were in the process of being unlocked in the southeast corner following the October 2020 election.

“Our strong health response to the COVID-19 pandemic has created a spike in interstate migration which has put pressure on land supply across the state,” Mr Miles said.

“While Covid has certainly spurred an increase in interstate migration, we would expect to see further increases over the coming years in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”