Toowoomba’s housing market still booming while regional Queensland properties flattened and the nation stalls

While the rest of the country’s housing markets comes to a standstill, Toowoomba is continuing to surge ahead. Two mothers have spoken about why they chose to call Toowoomba home.

While the national housing market has stalled and regional Queensland property prices have flattened after a multi-year real estate boom, Toowoomba continues to surge ahead with sales.

A new report found regional Queensland home prices were unchanged in February compared to January, and were only 1.03 per cent above last year’s levels.

However, Upside Realty Toowoomba co-owner David Johnson said Toowoomba is a different story.

“There is still a reasonably strong demand here, but we’re seeing a shortfall of listings on the market,” he said.

Compared to February 2022, the Toowoomba housing market is down 25-30 per cent on people listing their homes to sell, however those that are on the market, are selling quicker than most of Australia.

On average, Toowoomba homes are on market for 17 days, compared to up to months elsewhere.

As a result, Toowoomba has the second fastest sales time in Australia.

“Typically, people want to get a good price, and people want to get it done quick with minimum fuss,” Mr Johnson said.

“There’s quite a lot of uncertainty on the market at the moment with rising interest rates and a shortage of properties … but we’re still seeing growth in the market.”

The Glover family relocated to Toowoomba two years ago for work, and up until a week ago, were renting a home.

However, like many others, their rental home became unavailable and they were forced to look elsewhere.

“We hated being at the mercy of someone else and having to move on someone else’s timeline, so we decided to take it into our own hands and purchase our own home,” Anisia Glover said.

Nathan and Anisia Glover, with their children, recently moved into their own home after renting in Toowoomba the past two years. Thursday, March 2 2023. Picture: Contributed.

“We needed a home that was big enough for (my husband, our four children and I), was in a good location for schools and had to be in a price bracket we could afford.

“We spent many many weekends looking, and we were finding it hard to find something to fit our criteria.”

Mrs Glover said her husband Nathan and herself found themselves in a tricky situation where the location may be perfect, but it was out of their price range, or vice versa.

Upon finding a home they loved, Mrs Glover said there were many families also inquiring, and were shocked to secure a home a day after viewing it.

“Toowoomba really is a hidden gem, and when we moved here, we knew it was a good place to set up roots and raise a family,” she said.

“People elsewhere are realising that now too.”

Last week, Mrs Glover‘s friend Kylie Rahilly and her partner moved from the Gold Coast to Toowoomba after welcoming their second child.

“Our rental was sold, so we had a couple of months to get a mortgage and find somewhere to go,” she said.

“We were over the craziness of the Gold Coast, and wanted somewhere a bit more country with more bang for your buck of what we could afford, and we knew a few people from the area.”

Ms Rahilly said her family visited Toowoomba one weekend and looked at almost 10 open homes, before securing a Wilsonton property quite quickly.

“We have people moving from the Gold Coast where the median price is $975k, and coming to an area where the average is $521k,” Mr Johnson said.

“They can’t get their head around that, so they might offer a bit too much and pay a great price to someone who is selling.”

Mrs Glover said if they did not have the capability to purchase their own home, she is not sure what would have happened.

“We’re a big family, so where were we going to go if we suddenly didn’t have somewhere to live?” she said.

“We’re really grateful that we were able to be in a position to invest and buy.

“Especially now that I am working for Thermomix, I can help my husband with the income while still being a stay at home mum for my kids.”