Revealed: Where you can buy at (or below) 2012 prices in Qld

From mining towns to coastal enclaves and leafy city suburbs, there are 70 house and 36 unit locations across Queensland where house prices are cheaper now than they were a decade ago.

From mining towns and Outback escapes to coastal enclaves and leafy city suburbs, there are 70 house and 36 unit locations across Queensland where prices are cheaper now than they were a decade ago.

And the savings can be as much as an entire home in some of the southeast’s most sought-after affordable suburbs – you just have to know where to look,

New data from REA Group shows that the median house price in Moranbah, a mining town where values soared a decade ago during the resources boom and then crashed after the downturn, is now $283,500 – a whopping $466,500 less than the 2012 median price of $750,000.

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This Moranbah home was rented for $1800 per week back in 2011 at the peak of the mining boom. Photo Contributed

That difference is roughly equivalent to the median house price in Bellmere (Moreton Bay – North), Wongaling Beach (Cairns) and Edens Landing (Logan-Beaudesert), and more than house values in Mundingburra (Townsville), Harristown (Toowoomba) and Redbank Plains (Ipswich).

It is a similar story in Dysart and Blackwater, where the difference in median house prices is $420,000 and $302,000 respectively.

Now this Moranbah property, which includes two houses, is listed for sale for $475,000

Twenty of the 70 suburbs are located in the Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday region, but they don’t just include resource towns, with lifestyle locations also still clawing back towards their peak prices.

The difference in prices in December 2012 compared to December 2021 includes $1500 (Sarina), $55,000 (Mackay) and $65,000 (Bucasia).

This impressive house in Bucasia was listed for $395,000 but is now under offer

REA economic research executive director Cameron Kusher said many of the locations were linked to the resources sector which was vulnerable to booms and busts, with the handful of coastal locations also likely overlooked by lifestyle buyers.

“Many have struggled over the past decade,” he said of the mining towns.

But Mr Kusher said some of the suburbs would likely see an uptick this year on the back of high migration to Queensland, and the availability of affordable housing.

But he added it would take longer to see mining town prices bounce back.

“However, many of those areas are starting to stack up for investors,” he said.

Cameron Kusher, REA Group Executive Manager – Economic Research

The Central Queensland region has 19 suburbs where median house values are cheaper than a decade ago, from Blackwater ($302,000 difference) to Mount Morgan ($5000), with the coastal enclave of Tannum Sands also cheaper than in 2012, according to the data.

Offering four bedrooms and a pool on a 669sq m block, this private house in Tannum Sands is listed for $499,000.

The wider Townsville region also has 19 suburbs where houses are cheaper now, including a number of suburbs within the garrison city.

They include Deeragun ($62,175 difference), Aitkenvale ($12,000) and Wulguru ($3000).

This tidy three-bedroom house in Aitkenvale is on the market for just $289,000, below the suburb’s median house price

Keyes & Co Townsville principal Damien Keyes said values had tanked across Townsville during the downturn, labelling that period “the toughest I have ever seen”.

“At the lowest point, the median value across the whole city was something like $310,000 and it was really tough to be a seller as buyers were ruthless,” he said.

“It’s more like $365,000 now, and buyer demand is through the roof, pushing prices up.

“But a lot of suburbs were coming off an incredibly low base, and Townsville as a whole is still very undervalued for what it offers in comparison to other similar sized cities.”

Five suburbs in the Darling Downs-Maranoa region also make the list, and there are six suburbs in a vast area known as the Outback, including Cloncurry, Charleville and Longreach.

The data also shows that median unit values in some of the state’s most sought-after suburbs are cheaper now than a decade ago, including units in Brisbane, Moreton Bay, and the Whitsunday regions.

But with affordability becoming a massive concern, demand is on the rise.

Units in Cannonvale, which is just 4km from the tourism mecca of Airlie Beach (pictured) are the “best buys” in the region according to agents

Median unit values were lower in December 2021 compared to the same time a decade ago in four Townsville suburbs (Belgian Gardens, South Townsville, Kirwan and West End), six suburbs in the Mackay region, five across the Moreton Bay region, and nine in Brisbane, including Cannon Hill, Albion, Bowen Hills and Sherwood.

In the Whitsunday region, Cannonvale units were $8000 cheaper in December 2021 compared to December 2012.

But Ray White Whitsundays boss Mark Beale said the local unit market was the “best buy” in the region right now.

“We just listed a two-bedder for $159,000, that probably 2006 prices that one, and it is already getting strong interest,” he said.

”House prices are soaring so its likely the unit market will benefit from that as houses get out of reach for a lot of people.”