Oakey named one of state’s top spots to invest

‘Affordability, low vacancies and good yields are attracting property buyers to the town, including first-home buyers, tree changers, Baby Boomers and retirees.’

Charles Piper and Jess Tan in their house centrally located in Oakey. They are the face of Oakey’s property price boom. Picture: Nev Madsen.

When Jess Tran and her partner Charles Piper snapped up a three-bedroom Queenslander for $282,000 in the blossoming town of Oakey, they knew it was good deal.

“Charles reckoned it was a good buy, he likes the wooden houses and the shed out the back is very new,” she said.

What the pair didn’t realise is they were buying in one of Australia’s hot spots, according to leading property analyst Terry Ryder.

Oakey is named in Mr Ryder’s new Hotspotting report as a top affordable regional town to buy in, alongside communities like Rockhampton, Tamworth, Port Augusta and Maryborough.

The low prices are also driving a number of couples and families to consider Oakey as a lower-cost option to Toowoomba.

More than 150 houses have changed hands in Oakey in the past 12 months according to RP Data, with a median price of about $264,000.

This is nearly double the amount of sales for the prior 12-month period for Oakey, where 80 properties were sold at a median of $240,000.

Mr Ryder said Oakey’s proximity to Toowoomba and major projects like the Inland Rail and Wellcamp Airport contributed to its popularity.

“The massive program of infrastructure development in and around Toowoomba is poised to propel the area on to the national stage – and is already generating a rising real estate market,” he said.

“Affordability, low vacancies and good yields are attracting property buyers to the region, including first-home buyers, tree changers, Baby Boomers and retirees.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable areas that have good prospects and where the prices haven’t gone crazy already.”

Ms Tran, who bought the Lorrimer Street property through Westgarths, said proximity was why she and Mr Piper bought in Oakey, albeit for a different reason.

“Because he got a job in Chinchilla and I worked in Toowoomba, we were looking at Dalby but there wasn’t a house with a big enough shed so we had to look around," she said.

“I’m quite surprised at how many schools there are here, I would’ve thought families would want to send their kids here.

“It will be a good family town, they’ve got lots of things for kids and I can see the community is trying to improve on their facilities.”

JLC Real Estate principal Jamie Cooper said the surge in property sales in Oakey has been partly-driven by the lack of rental properties in Toowoomba.