Propertyology report reveals Toowoomba housing market triples in 20 years, while Lockyer Valley prices spike 30 per cent in 12 months

The Aussie dream of home ownership is becoming more unrealistic, as a startling new report highlights the spiking housing market over the years with prices in some suburbs jumping 30 per cent in 12 months. See our interactive map here.

Future homeowners have been left questioning if the Australian dream of owning property is still realistic, after a new study found the housing market had skyrocketed in the past two decades.

Research by Propertyology discovered Toowoomba median house prices have tripled, from $127,000 to $475,000, in the last 20 years, with average costs still climbing.

The situation hasn’t been helped by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to hike the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.1 per cent — the highest level since 2012 and eighth consecutive rise.

The Garden City, at a 370 per cent jump, just fell short of the Gold Coast’s 380 per cent boost from $248,000 to $950,000.

However, the largest jump for regional Queensland, stepping away from the capital city, was Noosa, which saw a huge spike from an average cost of $234,000 to $1.34 million.

“It is worth noting that the last two decades included eight prime ministers, the implementation of GST taxation reform, the Global Financial Crisis, multiple stock market crashes, countless wars and terrorist attacks, a national credit crunch, commodity price booms and busts, umpteen natural disasters and the Covid health pandemic,” Propertyology head of research Simon Pressley said.

Gowrie Junction homeowner Skye Handford purchased her first house with husband Gavin in 2009 – a move she said she was thankful for in the long run.

A three-bedroom brick home in Wilsonton, the property was purchased for $230,000.

The current median house value in Wilsonton is $418,213.

“It was very hard to get a loan at the time, even for that amount,” Mrs Handford said.

“We were declined to start with, but the government was doing their first home buyers scheme, which is why we jumped and purchased then, especially because they were doing a lot of incentives to help homeowners.”

Skye and Gavin Handford have owned two homes in the Toowoomba region and said the market is unbelievable at the moment. Tuesday, December 6, 2022.

At 21 years old, the couple were officially homeowners, but after seven years and some renovations, the property was sold for $320,000, and the family moved into a four-bed Gowrie Junction home on an acre block.

“The housing market hadn’t boomed yet, but we bought at the right time, even though we were shocked by the price,” she said.

The house was purchased for about $542,000, and looking back, Mrs Handford said it was disgusting that now, the same price bought you a small three-bedroom home in Toowoomba.

“I’m very glad we got into it when we did. It’s a very tough market at the moment … it’s a scary market,” she said.

“The amount of money they’re asking for is unbelievable, and the demand is unbelievable.”

Average housing prices have spiked in the past 12 months, with majority of Toowoomba suburbs nearing a 20 per cent rise, while some areas of the Lockyer Valley and Cambooya have seen more than 30 per cent spike.

Warwick has seen a 25.1 per cent jump in the last 12 months, while Pittsworth and Dalby have slowed down, and only witnessed a 10.2 and 10.3 per cent increase respectively.

Mrs Handford said the family were considering purchasing an investment property, but said it was not “worth spending so much on a property that could require so much maintenance”.

Some real estate agents were using a “strategic play” of advertising homes as expressions of interest or make an offer, something Mrs Handford said was a big turn-off for some buyers.

“I want to know how much you think it’s worth. I don't want to take a guess and blow more money … I won’t even bother with a place like that,” she said.

“It’s really hard. The whole market has changed, and it was really hard to be able to afford it 15 years ago when we bought, whereas now it’s almost impossible.

“Owning your own home is an Australian dream of the past. It doesn’t feel reachable now.”