Townsville records ten-year high in number of residential lot approvals

The number of lots for new homes being approved is skyrocketing with experts saying this is just the beginning. See what areas are growing the fastest.

The number of approvals for residential lots in Townsville has hit a ten-year high, with one suburb surging ahead.

The number of approvals for residential lots in Townsville has hit a ten-year high, with one suburb surging ahead and industry leaders saying it’s still early days.

With the high demand for housing, Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said the council approved 409 residential lots in the second quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year.

Bohle Plains had 99 residential lots approved followed by Rasmussen with 65, Burdell with 58, Julago at 52 and Shaw with 42.

The previous quarter saw the approval of 187 lots across the region.

Aerial photograph of a suburban housing development in Townsville, Australia.

Cr Greaney said it was “no secret” Townsville has seen growth with an increased population and interest from investors as a place to buy, as house prices rose almost 30 per cent in the past year.

“The previous quarter the development industry completed just shy of 200 lots, resulting in council approving 187 lots, so to be able to more than double that sees us getting closer to keeping up with current housing demand,” she said.

Townsville City Council Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney.

Citing the council’s recent endorsement of the Local Housing Action Plan (LHAP), Cr Greaney said it furthered the organisations commitment to working with the development industry.

She said with low unemployment and vacancy rates and a rising population, it was important to be working with stakeholders.

“It is a multifaceted challenge, but from a council perspective we’re targeting four key pillars in our LHAP, which is set to see us going from delivering around 700 new homes to 1200 each year,” she said.

“By getting more lots approved we can hopefully maintain Townsville’s affordability advantage relative to capital city housing markets and get more people in houses so we can continue growing our region’s industries and Townsville as a city.”

Darryll Gilchrist from New Home Solutions in front of a project on Castle Hill. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

New Home Solutions managing director Darryll Gilchrist said building was “quite attractive” at the moment, with large housing estate developments in areas such as Elliot Springs and Harris Crossing growing rapidly.

“In July last year the industry saw a noticeable uptick in activity in new home contracts and it’s been pretty consistent from there on in,” he said.

In regards to possible rises in prices of labour, Mr Gilchrist said it would take a while longer to see the effects on the industry.

“The uptick is only eight months old so it’s very early days,” he said.

“It’s only when all of a sudden all the trades have got 50 jobs to do and they can only handle 30. That’s when your price rises start happening, significant price rises.

“We’ve had various suppliers notify us fairly recently of the increase in costs, but the trades I believe you will see that happening probably in the next 3 to 6 months.”

He said there was a lot of activity in the building industry which was great for the town.

“There are a lot of out of town investors at the moment, we have cheap property compared to other parts of the state,” Mr Gilchrist said.

Repair works in Ingham are not expected to drain Townsville’s construction industry resources.

Saying the numbers were a strong result, Urban Development Institute of Australia Townsville branch co-president Michael Tapiolas said the numbers reflected the efforts of the local development industry and council.

“The opportunities ahead for our region are immense, making it essential to provide sufficient housing to support future growth,” he said.

Originally published as Townsville records ten-year high in number of residential lot approvals