Report reveals Toowoomba suburbs with declining house prices

A new Queensland property report has revealed some of the key Toowoomba areas to invest with properties in highly sought after suburbs with declining prices. Full story here.

Now may be the time for Toowoomba buyers to invest in the local property market with a new report detailing the areas where prices have dropped.

The latest PropTrack Market Trends report revealed highly sought after suburbs across the region had declined in pricing for units, with a difference in up to 22 per cent.

The average cost for a unit in Mount Lofty is currently sitting at $292,000 which has dropped by 22.1% in the past 12 months.

While North Toowoomba at $275,000 has dropped by 12.7% and 10.5% in the leafy East Toowoomba with an average price of $340,000 per unit.

Toowoomba’s Tomoro director Tye Thies said he believed the reason for the movement was due to rising interest rates causing a substantial reduction in people’s borrowing capacity.

“Two markets are running at the same time at the moment, where less of the higher priced properties are selling and that’s bringing the average prices down,” Mr Thies said.

“We find units are the first type of property to decrease in value, but they are also the slowest to increase in value.

“(Units) are usually less in demand because there’s a much smaller buying market in them and in a way, you don’t really own the land.”

Tomoro Toowoomba principal Tye Theis. Picture: Contributed

The real estate company director said suburbs like Middle Ridge, Rangeville and Middle Ridge had a larger range in prices with units priced anywhere from $200,000 to $800,000 in those areas.

While further out in Highfields, Meringadan and Gowrie Junction, Mr Theis said the larger blocks remained consistent in price due to high demand.

Mr Theis said his company was selling an average of two properties a month off market, with plenty of investors lining up to buy.

But experts believe the price falls are not expected to get much steeper than they are now, with demand factors expected to pick up again despite interest rate interventions by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Pete Wargent from Buyers Buyers. Picture: Contributed

BuyersBuyers co-founder Pete Wargent believes “the Australian housing market has passed its ‘peak fear’ phase” with affordability improving in some areas.

“Affordability became a major issue through the pandemic,” he said.

“Stay tuned, however, because there’s been a surge in listings, and asking prices have been falling, and sharply in some cases.”

He said the sunshine state was expected to see major population growth over the next decade and supply would “struggle to keep pace in the landlocked areas of the Queensland market”.

November PropTrack Market Trends report

Cotswold Hills –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $560,000
Change in median price in 12 months: -5.7%

East Toowoomba –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $340,000

Change in median price in 12 months: -10.5%

Highfields –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $392,500
Change in median price in 12 months: -0.4%

Mount Lofty –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $292,000
Change in median price in 12 months: -22.1%

North Toowoomba –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $275,000
Change in median price in 12 months: -12.7%

Preston –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $680,000
Change in median price in 12 months: -6.7%

South Toowoomba –

Unit median Sale price in 12 months: $334,750
Change in median price in 12 months: -2.7%

Originally published as Report reveals Toowoomba suburbs with declining house prices