PROPERTY: What your suburb was worth during lockdown
The real estate industry faced tough challenges during the COVID lockdown between April and June. Here’s how your house prices fared.
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MACKAY has been listed as a rising star in the Queensland housing market after recording a 5.9 per cent annual median price hike.
The annual median house price has jumped from $340,000 to $360,000 year on year which is now only about 5 per cent off the figure from five years ago.
But Isaac has recorded a 26.7 per cent price jump year on year after 179 sales across the council area.
Moranbah secured the bulk of the sales, with prices jumping 22.7% from 106 sales and the median house price moving from $216,000 to $265,000.
Whitsunday recorded a 2.8 per cent drop over the same period from 357 house sales but experienced 13.7 per cent growth in unit prices from 128 sales last financial year.
Agents sold 12 homes in Cannonvale over the June quarter during the COVID lockdown and 100 over the 2019-20 financial year.
Median house prices have jumped from $429,000 to $435,000 over the past year, resulting in a 1.4 per cent jump.
But Bowen prices have dipped from $272,500 to $245,000 from 115 over the past year, resulting in a 10.5 per cent drop.
And Proserpine recorded a 5.4 per cent drop from the 38 house sales there.
In releasing the Queensland Market Monitor September 2020 issue, Real Estate Institute of Queensland found Mackay's housing market recorded a flat result of $400,000 over the June quarter but the year ending figure was the equal strongest of all major regions across the state.
REIQ Mackay zone chair Allison Cunningham said the impacts of the pandemic had mostly been positive for the region with more residents choosing to call Mackay home.
She said the influx of new locals was partly for job opportunities available but some people decided to relocate to Mackay because of the travel restrictions.
North Mackay and South Mackay tied for best growth across the city's suburbs, recording a 12.9 per cent increase in the annual median house price.
North Mackay jumped from $252,500 to $285,000 from 83 sales in the past financial year, selling 14 during the June quarter.
South Mackay jumped from $280,000 to $316,000 from 84 sales in the past year, recording 13 sales in the most recent quarter.
Andergrove was by far the best performer in terms of sales, recording 17 during the COVID lockdown and 119 in the past year.
It also recorded 9.8 per cent in the annual media sale price from $325,000 to $357,000.
There were only nine homes sold in Blacks Beach in the June quarter and 50 over the past year.
But the beachside suburb grew the median house price 9.7 per cent from $310,000 to $340,000 in the past year.
Mount Pleasant took the biggest hit with the median house price falling 14.4 per cent over the past year from $409,000 to $350,000 from 55 house sales.
This graph shows all house sales data for Mackay.
Rent for three-bedroom homes has jumped $10 in Mackay from $350 to $360 and spiked $30 from $330 to $360 in Whitsunday.
Sarina has experienced a small dip from $345 to $325.
But Isaac towns experienced big jumps with Moranbah leaping from $340 a week last year to $380 this year, Middlemount spiking from $250 to $300 a week, Dysart moving from $185 to $223 and Clermont shifting from $280 to $295.
Two-bedroom units in Isaac have also jumped in price - Moranbah spiking from $215 a week last year to $280 this year and Middlemount shifting from $250 to $280.
Ms Cunningham said Mackay's rental market was probably the best it had been for eight years, when the vacancy rate was 1.7 per cent.
She said there were only about 180 rental properties now available across the whole of Mackay.
Mackay's rental vacancy rate has fallen to just 1.3 per cent - one of the lowest in the state - and shows the local rental market is in undersupplied territory.
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The lack of rental properties at the same time as an influx of new residents is beginning
to significantly impact prices as well as create stress for would-be tenants.
The Mackay median unit price reduced 2.2 per cent over the June quarter to $222,000 and was also down 2.2 per cent over the year.
The median unit price is still 28.5 per cent below its level five years ago, which is a fall
of more than $80,000.
However, its current low median unit price is now the most affordable of all major
regions, which is likely to become attractive to bargain hunters in the times ahead.
>>>> More Mackay property stories
While other parts of regional Queensland are reporting strong vacant land sales from
the HomeBuilder scheme, the same cannot be said for Mackay.
Only 23 vacant land sales were recorded over the June quarter with a median price of
$155,000 recorded.
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