Toowoomba’s Mount Lofty named top suburb for families according to new property research

Toowoomba is known as a perfect city to raise a family, but new research has revealed one suburb is among the top 20 areas in Australia for families.

LJ Hooker's Joshua Gray says Mount Lofty is the perfect suburb for young families, and new data suggests that's the case.

A leafy Toowoomba suburb has been named the second-best area in Queensland to raise a family.

New research commissioned by Well Home Loans has placed Mount Lofty among the top 20 family housing markets in Australia.

The up-market residential area in the northeast corner of the city smashed all the key metrics laid out by the research, which looked at median sale prices, the number of owner-occupiers and detached dwellings and access to quality schools and learning centres.

The achievement was no surprise for LJ Hooker residential sales agent Josh Gray, who recently sold a number of Mount Lofty homes to either current or upcoming young families in the past year.

He said suburbs on the eastern side of Ruthven Street benefited from quality homes and good access to some of Toowoomba’s best schools, making them ideal for young families.

“Young couples are buying in South Toowoomba, and they use it as a stepping stone to move to Mount Lofty,” Mr Gray said.

“It’s quick to then get this one done up (in another suburb) and move to Mount Lofty and within that community, to stay there as a tightly held asset.

“East Toowoomba is another one — it’s family-oriented, very interwoven with those private schools.”

Mr Gray said areas like South Toowoomba and Centenary Heights were quickly matching suburbs like Mount Lofty.

“I find them to be going to that direction due to Centenary Heights State High School; people are keen to get into that catchment,” he said.

“They’re getting more bang for buck, and prices will start rivalling those East Toowoomba and Mount Lofty homes soon.”

Based on the research, a ‘”family suburb” needed to have a median sale price between $200,000 and $1.5 million, at least 70 per cent of the population being owner-occupiers, more than 60 per cent of homes being detached dwellings, families making up at least 60 per cent of the local population and a SEIFA education and occupation score of at least six.

The suburbs are then ranked based on historical NAPLAN results for schools in the wider area.

Well Home Loans CEO Scott Spencer said this family suburb ranking provided valuable information for families who were planning their next purchase.

“Families want to live in suburbs that have lots of other families to socialise with, a high share of owner-occupiers to provide stability and good schools to educate their children,” he said.

“They also want to buy into suburbs that are likely to enjoy reasonable capital growth over the long-term.”

Mount Lofty

Average weekly income: $1,685

Median sale price: $535,000

Owner-occupier share of local population: 74%

Freestanding house share of local population: 90%

Family household share of local population: 71%

SEIFA education score: 10