Buyers looking to secure a bargain should look no further than Townsville, with sellers offering the biggest vendor discounts in Australia’s regional markets.
CoreLogic’s latest quarterly regional review, which analyses 25 of Australia’s largest non-capital city markets, found that Townsville sellers were, on average, offering a discount rate of 5.9 per cent to secure a sale on their house.
There be some hefty discounts out there yonder. Picture: Evan Morgan
But buyers should act fast, with that vendor discount rates falling from 7 per cent one year ago.
Townsville houses are also selling faster, down from a median days on market of 62 days a year ago to 55 days today.
The stunning renovated miners cottage in South Townsville has seen a “big price reduction” and is now listed for $339,000. Source: realestate.com.au
It is a similar story for units, with vendor discounting falling from 6.9 per cent to 6.2 per cent and days on market down from 70 days to 62 days.
As a result, the number of houses and units changing hands has significantly increased, and is up 9.7 per cent on a year ago and 1.5 per cent on the five year average.
This has resulted in the median sales price for both houses and units are also gaining ground.
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It is a similar story in Cairns, where vendor discounting has dropped 0.7 per cent to 4.3 per cent for houses and 0.6 per cent to 4.7 per cent for units.
However, the time on market for units has increased from 59 days to 72 days, likely the result of the brakes being applied to the tourism sector due to COVID-19. Time of market for houses remains unchanged at 58 days, according to CoreLogic.
The rate of vendor discounting and the length of time a property stays on the market has also decreased in the resource rich region of Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday, which has seen a resurgence in the mining sector.
The South Townsville miners cottage has been beautifully renovated.
CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said that regional housing values, broadly speaking, had so far held up better during the pandemic than their capital city counterparts.
Tim Lawless
He said that dwelling values across the combined regional areas of Australia had slipped by just 0.1 per cent between March and the end of July, while capital city home values were down 2 per cent over the same period.
“While the region by region data shows diversity, the relatively steady conditions across the regional markets of Australia can probably be attributed to factors such as less impact on housing demand from stalling overseas migration,” he said.
“Also there likely remains some momentum in the trend towards rising demand for lifestyle properties that was prevalent prior to COVID-19.”
Mr Lawless said that regional areas offered up a variety of advantages and risks compared with their capital city counterparts.
“On the positive side, housing prices tend to be lower, providing a more affordable entry point to the market, population densities are generally lower which is something that might be even more appealing as we move through this pandemic, and in many examples, regional areas will offer some lifestyle advantages, either via the locations proximity to the coastline or wide open spaces,” he said.
“On the downside, regional economic conditions can be more volatile, especially those areas that are heavily dependent on a single industry for economic prosperity, and some areas may not show the same level of amenity and access to essential services as a capital city or major centre.”
This executive home in Annandale is listed for $845,000-negotiable after a price reduction.
In Townsville, vacant lots are hot property, with new home and first home buyers making the most of generous government incentive, and some established houses are selling in hours, in some cases sight unseen by interstate buyers desperate to flee the big smoke.
And considering the cost of a similar house in Sydney or Melbourne, its a bargain.
Many residents have also returned home to Townsville, with others shifting to town before borders closed, driving down the rental vacancy to a record low of 1.7 per cent.
That’s down from 2.9 per cent in March, and the record high for the city of 7.1 per cent in September 2016, according to the latest REIQ Vacancy Rate Report.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said regional Queensland vacancy rates were the tightest since the GFC.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella. Picture: Supplied
Meanwhile, the Herron Todd White Month in Review Report for August has both the Townsville house and unit markets at the “start of recovery”.
The REA Markets Trends report for August shows that the biggest vendor discounts for houses in Townsville are currently being offered in Heatley, Condon and Mundingburra.
A renovated miners cottage in South Townsville and an executive home in Annandale are just two of the Townsville properties that have seen price reductions.
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Top 10 suburbs with the greatest average vendor discounting
Heatley -10.5%
Condon -9.2%
Mundingburra -8.7%
Aitkenvale -8.4%
Rasmussen -8.1%
Kelso -7.9%
Deeragun -7.8%
Currajong -6.4%
Cranbrook -5.9%
Douglas -5.3%
(Source: REA Market Trends Report – August)
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