What's behind the South Burnett real estate boost?
Kingaroy has had a spike in sales and rentals this month, as around 200 construction positions open up.
South Burnett
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KINGAROY has had a spike in property sales and rentals lately and more could be on the way as about 200 construction positions open up in the area.
The jobs are for the construction of Australia's largest wind farm, the Coopers Gap Wind Farm project.
The wind farm will be spread across 10 properties near Coorgana North, between Kingaroy and Dalby.
Freeman Estates salesman Chris Arnold said this could lead to a spike in real estate prices.
"It all comes back to the concept of supply and demand,” he said.
"If there is a significant rise in the amount of places being bought or rented, then it is most likely there will be an increase in prices.”
Mr Arnold said there had already been a significant increase in business for his agency.
More houses have been rented last month than the usual monthly rental average.
"Last month we had 50 new leases signed for rentals,” Mr Arnold said.
"Normally we have a monthly average of around 25 to 35, so that's quite a huge difference already.”
This month there has also been a rise.
"So far we've had maybe 27 rental leases finalised,” Mr Arnold said.
He was excited about the influx of construction jobs and what that could mean for the South Burnett economy.
"This will be really great,” Mr Arnold said.
"It's fantastic. This will be exactly the much-needed boost that our local town needs for the economy.”
Mr Arnold recognised that rental prices were likely to increase.
However, he said this was positive news for our town.
"I'm not sure how this fits into the rental influx we've already seen. It's probably a real mix,” Mr Arnold said.
"In terms of who is buying and renting our places, I can't be sure, but it's not all locals, or all investors, or even people who are completely new to our area. It's all kinds who are renting and buying, not just one select group of workers.
"The moving in of any new business creates positivity for our community.”
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