QLD Regional QLD - Townsville - Cairns - Gladstone - Rockhampton - Bundaberg - Mackay

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by Jaccob Rodda, 13th Feb, 2018.

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Better IP location right now

Poll closed 20th Feb, 2018.
  1. Townsville

    50.0%
  2. Cairns

    8.3%
  3. Gladstone

    8.3%
  4. Rockhampton

    25.0%
  5. Bundaberg

    8.3%
  6. Mackay

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Chrispy

    Chrispy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    394
    Location:
    Melbourne
    I have had a townhouse in Yorkeys Knob, Cairns, for around 16 years. It is now time for me to sell, so I can continue to travel in my retirement. :) It is only 150 metres from the beach front, 3 bedroom 1 bathroom and 2 toilets. It has been on realestate.com for 6 days. There have been in excess of 100 view it online but no inquiries so far. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to sell.
     
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  2. WallyB66

    WallyB66 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    5th Dec, 2015
    Posts:
    128
    Location:
    SYD, SEQ
    Voted for Townsville due to slightly more diverse economy but saw this plot from Yardney (I know he's a inner-ring big-city believer) but median seems all over the place. Haven't seen the equivalent for Mackay etc but suspect it would be down and flat...
    Also saw a rant from one of the local REA's up there regarding lack of will of local pollies to support business/ infrastructure etc- I'll see if I can dig it up ....
    [​IMG]
     
  3. WallyB66

    WallyB66 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    5th Dec, 2015
    Posts:
    128
    Location:
    SYD, SEQ
    This guys a local Townsville real estate agent- not the only north queenslander with a conspiracy theory or 2 :rolleyes:- came across it this week- he's a bit wound up...

    Peter Agapiou
    February 8 at 12:11pm ·
    Good Choice for Townsville , Labor has tainted Townsvilles name once again as a backward attitude to progress, slithered into government with its traditional pork barreling tactics and now posturing to get back on side with the greens, The damage this party is causing our City is irreparable. We are the laughing stock of the development world , best you get your green mates and pull them into line , no work , no free health , free schools , and every other thing else the greens want for free. This town will end up like Detroit and Crompton . Keep it up and i am bailing , and so will a lot of other productive , respectable residence and leave you with a ses pit of ice addicts , criminal and government funded majority to pay for their own way in this world . I pour my hart and soul into lifting this place just to be pulled down by foolish non contributing leaches, i have just about had it after 10 years
     
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  4. John Fish

    John Fish Active Member

    Joined:
    8th Apr, 2016
    Posts:
    34
    Location:
    Paradise QLD
    My order of preference however am bias.
    Rockhampton
    Mackay
    Townsville
    Gladstone
    Cairns
    And in all honesty I'd leave Bundy off the list completely at this stage.
     
  5. John Fish

    John Fish Active Member

    Joined:
    8th Apr, 2016
    Posts:
    34
    Location:
    Paradise QLD
    Willing to share where you plan on buying next? ;-)
     
  6. myusernam

    myusernam Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    31st Aug, 2016
    Posts:
    54
    Location:
    townsville
    I'm a local to Townsville. Travel fortnightly to cairns for work.
    Cairns booms and busts as tourism makes up it's main driver by far.
    That said, there are some very nice places and I think it's poised for some growth. I actually think cairns has nicer housing on average/ compared with price

    Townsville has a much more diverse economy than cairns, with it's largest sector of the economy only making up 9%. That said we lost our largest employer in Yabulu a few years ago. Unemployment is twice the national average. Real estate is at Rock bottom. Businesses are closing. There are vacant shops. It's the perfect time to buy. Something half decent should still see a good tenant and respectable yield.
    It's the largest regional town in Australia outside of the capitals and the GC.
    There is stuff on the horizon, it's too big to fail. It's had a few bad things happen in a row.
    Prices are way down. Renovations probably cost a bit more than a capital city.

    My opinions. The inner outer ring thing only works with capital cities. It's because of all the state government business and workers that commute to the city, work in the city, shop in the city at lunch, drink or dine after work, even entertain in the city etc. Even Darwin has this. Townsville does not. The city center is a bit of a backwater business wise. I think this will come back a bit especially with the CBD staduim etc. But I don't think the concentric ring model applies as much as it does in Brisbane. There's a couple of quasi CBD/ shopping districts that have some good central suburbs that have big blocks which are close to everything. We have large amounts of flat land to the north, west and south with new subdivisions so I would avoid those.

    Yields sub 400k probably 6-7%

    Rates are very expensive. Yes it includes water but do you really want to pay for water for your tenant? You can now not pay and charge tenant for water you just need to have water efficient shower heads, toilet cisterns and faucets and the evidence (either plumbers report or receipts. I didn't have a receipt for one cistern or shower rose so I bought them from bunnings, photographed the receipt, then took it straight to the return isle for full refund :)) But you run the risk of the tenant not watering in townsville which has 300 days of sunshine a year so probably not a popular option.

    Insurance is the biggest killer. Many insurers aren't interested. We get far less storms and damage than brisbane but when a cyclone hits the place gets trashed and the tradies gouge so the insurance companies wear a high cost. There is over zealous flood mapping and the insurance companies go off that and charge like a wounded bull. I recently got 10 quotes for one place and only a few were sub $4k for a $360k valued house in a bad flood area. I have two houses in so called bad areas (even though they are on stilts) cheapest insurance with landlords for both is around $3500 each pa. both valued mid $300's. Rates $3600 per year.
    I suggest filling out online quotes when looking at purchases. Start here
    NQHI Home | North Queensland home insurance
    I rent through fixed price scheme. These guys are ok.
    Why Choose Townsville Rentals To Manage Your Rental Property

    I'd also watch out for some of the traditionally good suburbs close to the city that have large old unit blocks, or nice houses beside knock downs. Recently in North ward one guy with a $900k queenslander found out he's getting 27 new neighbours in 8 stories next door where there used to be an older house. I don't think there's as much value at the higher end of the market.
    but you can get a pretty solid renter on a big block in old townsville proper for far less than the cost of replacement.
     
  7. strongy1986

    strongy1986 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    VIC
    Youi?
    I pay $1400 (west end)
    Replacement value of house is 435k
    I upped my excess though. The only time im going to use insurance is if the house/roof blows away or it burns down so id rather save 1k a year and pay up if the unlikely ever happens
    North ward is a great area. Would be a shame to ruin it with high rise but thats progress i guess
     
  8. strongy1986

    strongy1986 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    VIC
    Townsville rentals....
    Bunch of mugs
    You get what you pay for

    Couldnt get our place rented for 3 months. Changed to another mob and rented in a few days for more that what Tville rentals were trying to get.
    Maybe they work harder for local investors?
     
  9. myusernam

    myusernam Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    31st Aug, 2016
    Posts:
    54
    Location:
    townsville
    I think you can get a bad story out of any rental managers. The new BDM there now is pretty good. 3 months is a long time wow.
    Donna sands is a good option I hear.
    Youi meant to be cheap but they won't insure either of the houses I mentioned - as soon as I give addresses the simply say sorry! Excesses for both $1k. Even my ppor is expensive to insure. Not as much of a fan of North ward. Too many flats imho. Flats are old low socioeconomic. Better parts of suburb expensive.
     
  10. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    5,111
    Location:
    Sydney
    Dont know if she's still there , but there was a lady who ran a PM only agency that we were quite happy with .

    Cliff
     
  11. radson

    radson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    4th Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    1,563
    Location:
    Upper Blue Mountains
    The regions in Australia with the highest paying jobs

    Based on current job postings on its website, it shows the postcodes with the highest advertised salary levels right now.

    The postcodes in the table reflect the first two digits in each location.

    Right now, the highest average salaries are found in postcodes starting with 46 and 47, which represent the Gladstone and Bowen regions of Queensland.

    Raife Watson, CEO of Adzuna, said a number of new coal mining projects in the Bowen Basin, and the subsequent flow-on-effect to the ports in Gladstone, are currently acting to support salary levels in these regions.
     
  12. strongy1986

    strongy1986 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    VIC
    not disagreeing with the research but there are a couple of anomalies in the data

    highest paying postcodes in vic are 35 and 36????
    Mildura and Shep
    sorry but the data for vic is wrong
     
  13. Jaccob Rodda

    Jaccob Rodda Member

    Joined:
    13th Feb, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    Colac
    Is anyone currently buying in these regional QLD markets or are they just a watch for now?
     
  14. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    5,111
    Location:
    Sydney
    Don’t know what others are doing . Personally I wouldn’t expect any significant movement until the periphery of Brisbane is moving .

    If finance was easy you might have found some people looking for bargains , but given how tight borrowing is , I wouldn’t expect a lot until people can free up cash / take profits else where .

    Cliff
     
  15. Chrispy

    Chrispy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    394
    Location:
    Melbourne
    I put my 3 bedroom townhouse on the market on 6th February. To date Agent said no one is buying up there. There has been so much rain, I am not surprised. I will give it until mid June, then if no action, then I will re-let for another year. June/July gets the southerners going up to get away from the cold, mainly Melbourne people, I am hoping they show some interest.
     
  16. Marg4000

    Marg4000 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    6,380
    Location:
    Qld
    So what would be correct?
    Remember, the report is talking regional areas.
    Marg
     
  17. HUGH72

    HUGH72 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,022
    Location:
    QLD
    The townhouse/unit market is still a bit on the nose due BC fees, insurance and the previous downturn where unit values dropped.

    The PPOR house market is much better, 3 houses on our street were under contract quickly in a matter of weeks, a fourth house took ages to sell. I think that was more a case of the venders/agent being unrealistic with pricing.

    Rental vacancy rate for houses is low especially in desirable areas. Gross yields are around 5% for houses.

    Different story on the outer south side though.
     
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  18. Thedoc

    Thedoc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th May, 2018
    Posts:
    258
    Location:
    Newcastle
    Where abouts?
     
  19. strongy1986

    strongy1986 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    VIC
    it also includes city postcodes

    average Household incomes are a tick over $1000 a week in Shepparton and Mildura so there's no way the average salary is 97k
     
  20. Jaccob Rodda

    Jaccob Rodda Member

    Joined:
    13th Feb, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    Colac
    Watching the market houses in good areas are starting to move. Reading a report from Location Score the DSR Data on Townsville has been one of the biggest improvers over the past 12 months.
     

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