Townsville property market stabilises to end 2019
The Real Estate Institute Queensland December report has revealed a rebounding property market in Townsville.
Townsville
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THE Townsville property market has rebounded in the September quarter with stabilising house prices and increasing rental returns the highlight.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s December Market Monitor report has good news for homeowners, with the house market appearing to have stabilised since the start of the year.
The median house price in the June quarter fell by 4.7 per cent, while in the September quarter it clawed back the previous reduction, only falling by 0.3 per cent.
The median house price five years ago in Townsville was $360,000 while it is now sitting at about $315,000, the report showed.
The low median house prices seemed to be reinvigorating buyer confidence with a stable number of sales in the past three months.
Martin McDonough has 21 years of sales experience and is a real estate agent for M Property in Townsville.
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Mr McDonough said he had seen renewed confidence in the real estate landscape over the past three months but the Townsville property market still had a long way to go.
“The last three months is the best I’ve seen in three years for houses and for the first time in three years, confidence is back in the market,” he said.
“But in the last six years we haven’t seen any capital growth on any property and prices have not increased at all, they have actually had a slight decrease.”
Mr McDonough said young buyers were seeing the benefits of owning and not renting in Townsville.
“People are seeing we are at the bottom (of the cycle) so this is the time to buy but we are seeing younger generations get into the market with low interest rates,” he said.
While the house market had stabilised, the unit market experienced a bleak three months.
Unit prices decreased 8 per cent in the June quarter with a further decrease of 1.6 per cent in the past three months.
The median unit price five years ago was $284,000, with unit prices only fetching $245,000 in 2019.
Mr McDonough reported the same observations as the report and said the unit market is at a flat line because of hidden costs.
“There are a lot of units on the market and the issue for units is body corporate is quite hard to afford,” he said.
“Before you start paying your mortgage you are paying $100 in body corporate fees.”
The report shows the short-term impact of the floods appears to be softening in the rental market, with rental vacancy rates increasing 1 per cent from 2.2 per cent in June to 3.2 per cent in September.
On the other hand, rents significantly strengthened over the past year in line with a soft sales market.
In Townsville, the gross rental yield for houses now stands at 5.4 per cent while it is an impressive 6.2 per cent for units.
Originally published as Townsville property market stabilises to end 2019