Burnett, Bundaberg house price growth defies declining regional market

The red hot surge in house prices across the Wide Bay Burnett continues to keep values high despite the market slowdown, but not everyone is a winner.

South Burnett Real Estate agency owner Janelle Baisden-Emett and Qld Tenant Association CEO Penny Carr say housing stock shortages continue to deliver good and bad results for Wide Bay Burnett property markets in areas like Gympie.

Housing supply shortages across the Wide Bay Burnett continue to deliver a mixed bag with the regions continuing to simultaneously experience elevated house prices and strangled vacancy rates.

New figures released by CoreLogic reveal the Wide Bay continues to dominate price growth across regional Queensland despite a slowdown in the market, with the region accounting for half of the top 10 performing suburbs in the past year.

The Burnett topped the list on the back of a 29.9 per cent 12-month rise in median prices, which, as of September 30, were $315,797.

Bundaberg was the third best performing regional market this past year with a 21.1 per cent price rise (with a median value of $446,658), and Maryborough claimed the fourth spot thanks to an 18.8 per cent price rise (for a median value of $426,920).

Hervey Bay, at sixth with an 18.6 per cent rise ($600,286 median), and Gympie, in 10th spot ($591,639), rounded out the list.

The Burnett and Bundaberg figures were up on last month’s averages, despite a national 1.4 per cent drop in house prices.

House prices at Gympie and Hervey Bay dropped about $14,000 and $5000 respectively.

Maryborough was not previously in the top 10.

Bundaberg’s housing prices have continued to climb despite a nationwide drop in the market, new figures from CoreLogic reveal.

The rest of the Wide Bay has been a fixture on the list for months as a result of what had become a scorching hot market following the start of the Covid pandemic.

South Burnett Real Estate principal Janelle Baisden-Emmett said the “absolute panic” which had been the market’s hallmark those past few years was now finished.

The market still remained healthy though, she said, and although actual predictions were impossible she believed concern about a looming crash was “unnecessary”.

This did not mean problems did not remain.

In terms of supply and demand though the former was still sorely lacking.

Relief was not expected to arrive soon.

South Burnett Real Estate owner Janelle Baisden-Emmett said the market was still healthy despite the slowdown, but the “absolute panic” of the past two years had disappeared.

South Burnett residents “were waiting 12 months, two years for houses to be built” because tradesmen were in such high demand.

“There’s absolutely not a lot of development going on,” Ms Baisden-Emmett said.

Tenants were also preferring to stay put and accept rental increases because “they understand there’s nowhere else in the market that’s cheaper”.

The latest available figures from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland show Maryborough’s rental vacancy rate was 0.2 per cent as of June 2022.

At Gympie and in the South Burnett it was only slightly better at 0.3 per cent.

Bundaberg’s vacancy rate was 0.4 per cent, and Hervey Bay’s was 0.6 per cent.

The Queensland Council of Social Services this week revealed the waiting list for social housing in Gympie was now more than two years.

Queensland Tenants Association CEO Penny Carr said the Wide Bay Burnett was still struggling under the supply shortage.

“We need to build more affordable housing,” Ms Carr said.

“We’ve got some people sitting on properties, it’s putting pressure on housing across the state.”

Ms Carr said there needed to be greater understanding of how properties were being managed and used by owners “and what happens (to the homes) when they come on the market”.

The impacts of the hot post-Covid market would continue being a barrier for people trying to take the next step into the housing market, too.

Ms Carr said in that time the prices had “gone up 20 per cent … but haven’t come down that much yet”.

Originally published as Burnett, Bundaberg house price growth defies declining regional market