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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Mackay’s real estate market is heating up with increased population and surging rental prices pushing sales high, according to the latest research by PRDnationwide.
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The Mackay Region report found that the market continued to track upwards, as demand outstripped supply.
PRDnationwide research analyst Robert Matta said the Mackay property market had demonstrated exceptional growth in sales volumes during the April 2012 half-year period, with strong sales performances recorded for the house, unit and in particular the vacant land market.
“The recent spate of transactions in the region can be attributed to strong population growth and an increasingly unaffordable rental market,” he said.
“Unprecedented rental price escalations over the year to June 2012 have coerced many would-be buyers to enter the market, either as owner-occupiers looking to escape excessive rents or as investors looking to capitalise on highly attractive rental yields.”
The research showed a total of 1,139 houses sold during the six months to April 2012, a 35.1 per cent hike compared to the same period 12 months earlier.
The median house price recorded for the region was $430,000 – a modest 3.6 per cent lift.
“The median house price has been remarkably buoyant since the global financial crisis unfolded in 2008, bucking the nation’s trend to record positive average annual growth at 2.4 per cent over the past five years. A combination of sustained demand and a shortage of housing have resulted in continued price escalations,” Mr Matta said.
Unit sales were up 34.9 per cent and the volume of land sales more than doubled.
