REVEALED: 3 suburbs at tip of Mackay's house price comeback

Market Monitor report shows double-digit growth in three suburbs

PRIME PROPERTY: This Erakala home sold for $1.4M earlier this year. Picture: Gardian Real Estate

THREE suburbs to the north of Mackay's CBD are leading a house price comeback in the regional Queensland mining and resource hub.

The latest Market Monitor report by Real Estate Institute Queensland shows double-digit growth in annual median houses at Slade Point, Eimeo and North Mackay for the past 12 months.

These suburbs increased in the range of 15 to 19.3 per cent for the year to September 2018, while the region's overall housing market as a whole has been reclassified from 'recovery' to 'rising'.

"We're certainly going into a rising market - there's a lot more work going around," REIQ Mackay zone chair Peter McFarlane said.

"People are coming back into town, not in the droves that they did years ago, but the work is production based rather than construction based so hopefully it's very sustainable."

The annual median house price for Mackay overall increased 5.6 per cent to $340,000 and units are up 1.3 per cent in the last quarter.

There's still a long way to go before Mackay's housing market approaches the prices of five years ago - it's now 19.7 per cent below the 2013 annual median sale price of $423,250 - but Mr McFarlane says there's now definitely in an upward trend.

He attributes Mackay's rising housing market to significant government investment in projects including the first stage of the Mackay Ring Road, and increased activity in the resources sector.

"The price of coal has gone up significantly, so the mining companies are very heavily into maintaining their equipment and buying new equipment," he said.

"We are the hub for all of that resources growth in the equipment sector."

The region also has the lowest unemployment in the state at 3.3 per cent and as jobs attract people back to Mackay the rental market is also one of the tightest.

The Whitsundays also "blasted back", the REIQ statement said, with a 10.8 per cent growth in the 12 months to September 2018.

Mackay's unit market is still "challenging" but REIQ has reclassified it from 'falling' to 'stabilising', a statement by REIQ says.

It also believes more residential development may be on the horizon.

"Anecdotal evidence from locals indicates some local developers are planning new property development projects," the REIQ statement said.

"This is not a surprise as the housing market is now showing consistent signs of recovery and the regional employment market is clearly booming.

"We forecast new housing stock may hit the market sometime over the next 18 months, potentially changing the dynamics of the property market towards early 2020."

Originally published as REVEALED: 3 suburbs at tip of Mackay's house price comeback