Townsville property market in national context
The Townsville property market has enjoyed better days when building approvals and existing dwelling transactions and median house prices were much higher than they are now.
However, North Queensland’s peak marketing and political lobby organsation has said confidence is returning to the Townsville property market because interest rates are being cut along with the retention of negative gearing policies by the newly elected Federal government.
In what seems to be an assessment of the Townsville property market based on national headwinds, Townsville Enterprise has speculated that poor housing affordability in capital cities will drive more regional investment in centres such as Townsville.
“However, confidence appears to be returning to the national market with interest rate cuts and retention of negative gearing for existing purchases.”
“The lack of housing affordability in capital city centres may be beneficial for regional areas such as Townsville North Queensland with more affordable housing stock,” TEL reported.
Where is the economic pain most prevalent?
The political and industry lobbyist organisation commented in its quarterly economic snapshot report that “Overall, Queensland recorded a decline in dwelling approvals of -23.2% over the past 12 months, indicating the slowdown of the national property market.”
But the reality for the Townsville property market in North Queensland has been the continued decline in dwelling building approvals, decreasing by -37.6% over the past 12 months till June 2019, much to the dissatisfaction of leading developers.
Again, TEL shed light on the darkness of construction starts, stating; “Similarly, both residential and non-residential building value decreased by -26.9% and -25.3% respectively over the same period of time.”
What positive outcomes has come from the devastating floods?
Nevertheless, flood recovery works has created a pocket of stimulus for the construction sector in the March quarter.
“Non-residential building value peaked in May 2019 at $112 million, the highest value achieved in one quarter since September 2017,” TEL said.
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