Chapter 1: What is the significance of Mackay in the Queensland real estate market?
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And welcome to another episode of the Real Estate Podcast, available on iHeartRadio every morning and also on Spotify and Apple and wherever you get your podcasts from. Well, it's another Saturday, which has rolled around pretty fast. Is it going to be a relaxing weekend for you or an incredibly busy one looking at property or maybe transacting on real estate
Whatever the case may be, enjoy your weekend. It is the 10th day for September for 2022 and we are on our road trip in Queensland. Continuing today, we've pulled into Mackay, which seems to have taken us forever to get here and coming up very shortly, we'll be talking with Danielle Law, who is going to give us a little bit of a rundown on the property market here.
some of the things that you need to know about Mackay. You might be looking at investing, a property investment, perhaps in Mackay, or perhaps a bit of a relocation, a bit of a sea change. So we will be finding out just how enticing for property Mackay is with our Saturday Morning Focus, which is coming up very shortly.
It's your weekend real estate breakfast, a cereal-sized podcast about what's happening in your local backyard every Saturday morning on The Real Estate Podcast.
Well, of course, yesterday, Queen Elizabeth II, a very sad day. The news on her passing, a lot of reflection. over the last 24 hours about her life and her reign of course and I wonder just how many people throughout the decades has had the honour and the privilege of meeting Queen Elizabeth II. I have never met her but if I was to tell you that
I was in her company for 24 hours, you would probably say, that sounds like a tall story, but it's 100% true. Now, how did this happen, I hear you ask? Well, in 1995, I happened to be working in New Zealand radio, and we knew of somebody in Air New Zealand. And at that time in 1995, it was the only time in her reign that she ever flew on a commercial airliner.
And how this all came about was the New Zealand government decided to save money. And rather than send a plane to the UK to pick her up and to bring her back to New Zealand, they thought, well, let's fly her on an Air New Zealand commercial flight. So what they did was they took out all of the first class and they set up a bed, a writing desk, a couch, etc. So she was nice and comfortable.
and that's where i got to fly with her from auckland to the uk now the flight was actually headed for frankfurt germany and the germans had no idea so when they first arrived you got a piece of paper saying that tonight i think the flight left at 8 30 tonight you will be flying with her majesty the queen
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Chapter 2: What factors are influencing property sentiment in Mackay?
All right. Let's go around Australia and check on your weather on this Saturday morning. First, we go to Sydney, expecting possible afternoon showers today. Not a great start for the weekend, a high of 22 degrees. In Melbourne, expecting showers and 15 is your forecast high.
Brisbane is the place to be with sunshine, blue skies and 27 degrees and in Perth today also a mainly fine and sunny day expecting a high of 22 degrees.
We are just as addicted to property as you are. It's the Real Estate Podcast across Australia, seven days a week.
Well, Mackay, it's around 970 k's north of Brisbane. A quick geography lesson in case you didn't know where that was. It's the sugar capital of Australia where almost a third of Australia's sugar is produced. It's close to the Mackay Wood Sunday region and possibly the perfect spot to relocate to. Hang on, I'm starting to sound a bit like a tourism ad. Let's bring in this morning Danielle Law.
She is from Pinpoint Property.
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Chapter 3: What is the current median house price in Mackay?
And a very good morning to you, Danielle. Welcome to The Real Estate Breakfast.
Wonderful. Thank you for having me.
So there you are in the sugar capital of Australia and spring has arrived. So how's the sentiment for property there right now?
Yeah, look, it's an excellent question. And I think Mackay is really quite well placed in general at the moment. As you touched on, we've got quite a wide, diverse space with industry, a very attractive location and a lot of natural attributes to the area.
And I think certainly post-COVID, with people putting more focus into where they may like to put themselves, you know, in that type of lifestyle to enjoy, Mackay has definitely been a strong candidate for those type of eyes as well, moving into regional areas.
And because it is a regional area, it means that the median house prices are a little bit cheaper, not the same as Brisbane. And of course, we might have people listening in Brisbane thinking, yes, the further north I get, the more property I'm going to get, the more value for money. So give us an example there, Danielle. Median house price may be a house with a bit of land.
yeah look it's a really good point to make actually we've certainly seen over the last two years you know those that are moving to Mackay are often selling in those southeast Queensland or interstate such as Sydney Melbourne and coming to Mackay buying you know a beautiful and affordable property and often then having a surplus of cash still in hand you know to obviously set themselves up as part of their new lifestyle and we're also finding that decision to move to Mackay is a permanent decision
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Chapter 4: How does the property market in Mackay compare to Brisbane?
It's not just a short term plan that they have. They are making a permanent move, which certainly solidifies, you know, that we should see stable times ahead, you know, for the Mackay area.
So at the moment, you know, we're still sort of seeing for the typical home, you know, you can pick up something, you know, still quite lovely with that median value sort of sitting around just under around 400,000. Certainly the unit market is very appealing to especially first home buyers, but also investors specifically.
We seem to see a little bit of interest from investors around that unit market where, you know, you can comfortably be picking up, you know, a unit at the moment, one or two bedrooms sort of in that just under just over $200,000 range.
But the rent returns attached to that are also, you know, quite healthy as well due to the fact that our rental market's sort of sitting at less than 1% in general.
So in terms of the medium house with a block of land, what sort of land would you be getting for around $400,000?
Yeah, no, no, it's an excellent question. And certainly I think a strong point of difference that Mackay can offer in comparison to the city is that land size. That land size typically is around 700, 800 square metres, sometimes upwards of that level as well, which really suits our lifestyle.
People are often drawn to the Mackay area for the outdoor lifestyle and recreation is a big part of what we do. So having space and site access for that all-important shared space to park the boat, park the camper trailer, kayaks or paddle boards. So certainly that's a big part of what Mackay has to offer is that larger land content.
And that's a drawcard, certainly for those who may be moving from cities in more condensed spaces.
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Chapter 5: What types of properties are available for first home buyers in Mackay?
The regionals sort of areas do typically offer that larger land size. In terms of the home itself, around that $400,000 mark, you know, you could be looking at quite a neat, tidy, you know, sort of circa 90s brick style home. It may have an en suite or at least the potential to bring that en suite into the property.
Yeah, generally around that three bedroom sort of configuration for that price range.
And you're talking about people moving into the area and they're going there for life by the sound of it. It's not short term. They're selling up in other areas. So where are they coming from?
Yes, yeah, very much so. So yeah, definitely we've seen quite a bit of movement from the southeast corner. So those who might be selling up and moving north from the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast type areas. Outside of Queensland, we've certainly seen quite of interest with buyers from Sydney, Melbourne, but also South Australia and Tasmania as well.
So a lot of them are understandably moving for a combination of family, lifestyle, but also affordability seems to be a hot, you know, discussion with them as well.
And what about first home buyers and also about employment? What is on offer there in Mackay?
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Chapter 6: What are the rental costs for families in Mackay?
Yes. Yeah. No, look, Mackay is very well placed in that it's got a nice broad industry mix. There's also some good opportunity for earnings too. If you've got skilled trade or, you know, labour, that's in very hot demand. They are working around the clock to keep up with client demand, but also struggling with the opportunity.
to have that skilled labour there to support and work with those clients that are demanding their services. So certainly for people that may be considering a move from the cities, Mackay is quite blessed to have a very low unemployment rate, a nice wide range of job opportunities on offer, and then combined with the fact that it's sitting more affordably in terms of the real estate entry price.
And what is the population of Mackay?
Yeah, look, broadly, you know, we're sort of sitting around, you know, the greater region is around that sort of 120. And when I say greater region, you know, that's including, you know, out to the Isaac, Pioneer Valley and north towards the Whitsundays.
So, you know, the good thing with the Mackay area is there is a lot of opportunity to choose the lifestyle that you wish to live, whether that's beach, whether that's bush. Acreage is another popular segment in our real estate market. But then just as equally, you know, we've got a lot of people looking for that inner city convenience, walkability, and also just affordability.
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Chapter 7: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Mackay real estate market?
Again, like you touched on earlier, for first home buyers, for them, certainly they've been blessed to be looking at some support there with these government guarantees, enabling them to maybe make their decision into buying sooner than later. And yes, certainly they will be pursuing those properties sort of under $400,000 or just above.
And you've gone through this boom along with everybody else in terms of what's happened during the pandemic. What are a couple of the highlights, I guess, for you over the last couple of years around selling property? What are some of those observations that you've noticed there in Mackay?
Yes, look, I think Mackay was really quite blessed coming into this COVID pandemic, I guess, in that we were coming just out of the early days of our own decline in our market that we'd experienced from a previous mining boom. So we came into COVID quite affordable, actually, and with good balance of supply.
So, yes, certainly it's been onwards and upwards since COVID has had its influence and benefited those regional areas like Mackay. So I think, you know, the way forward for Mackay is that at the moment, you know, we have an issue where we have a very severe tight squeeze on our rental market.
Unfortunately, there has been an underinvestment in housing for the last sort of 10 years for the better part of it. The issue we have then is where do people live? We have a lot of people who don't have a house while we're in that sort of climate.
That's certainly going to, I think, if not maintain the level of interest and demand on our market, but also ensure that it remains more sustainable moving forward as well.
Well, lovely to chat, Danielle. Just before I let you go, if there are perhaps families thinking, gee, Mackay sounds like a place we should go and check out.
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Chapter 8: What lifestyle benefits does Mackay offer to new residents?
If somebody was seriously looking at Mackay and they wanted to rent, and let's say a family of four, what sort of a rental cost would there be for a three-bedroom home in Mackay if somebody was looking for renting first before buying?
Yes, I'm really glad you brought this up actually, because that is certainly one part of our market, which is quite strained, to be honest with you. And certainly if anyone's maybe even considering an investment into Mackay, it would be welcome with open arms with a vacancy rate of less than 1%. It's very competitive to secure rental properties at the moment.
So certainly for the typical home, the average sort of median price you're looking at is around $425 to $430 a week. Within only an average day is a market of around 18 days. So generally we have tight supply and those homes are being taken up by the market within two to three weeks of being listed for rent.
All right, well, thanks so much, Danielle, telling us a little bit about your little spot there in Queensland. Mackay certainly gets the sunshine. It's got a great median house price for first-home buyers in particular and those that are downsizing. No doubt we'll catch up again in the future. Good luck.
Yes, my pleasure. Yeah, lovely to speak with you.
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