State of Markets – QLD November 2012

QUEENSLAND

Gentrification ahead for Logan City
A suburb south of Brisbane with some of the “most densely concentrated public housing” is set to be changed dramatically, according to minister for housing and public works Bruce Flegg.

A Logan ‘Renewal Board’ is taking the first steps to change the public housing environment in Logan City.

“Logan has some of the most densely concentrated public housing in the state and over the years has had to deal with the effects of that,” Dr Flegg said.

The board is currently looking for a large piece of land on which to build 200 new units so older properties can be sold.

“One of the biggest challenges facing the public housing system is that the properties we own are no longer suitable for the [needs of] people we house,” he said.

Hot property season ahead in Whitsundays
PRDnationwide research has predicted that a hot property season lies ahead for the Whitsunday region.

Sales of Airlie Beach units have increased by a staggering 68.4 per cent, while the median price has fallen to a nine-year low of $245,000, signaling change ahead.

In Jubilee Pocket, house sales volumes have gone up by 33.3 per cent, with the 24 sales registered in the April 2012 half-year period sitting above the five-year average of 20 sales.

Further west, in Cannonvale, the house market has proven very resilient.

A total of 38 transactions were registered for the six months to April 2012, representing an increase of 35.7 per cent from the corresponding period in 2011.

PRDnationwide Whitsunday chief executive Rob Taylor said: “This showed that buyers currently see value in the Whitsundays property market; more importantly it shows confidence to invest in the region.

“Residential sales actually increase in the lead up to the Christmas period and we are already seeing this with strong sales activity at present.”