Savvy buyers willing to wait

Prices climb in Middle Ridge, Westbrook in steady housing market

SWITCHED-on buyers are looking for property in Toowoomba, but they are happy to wait until the price is right.

New Real Estate Institute of Queensland sales data reveals in the March quarter median house prices in Middle Ridge and Westbrook grew 7.2% and 6.9% respectively in the past 12 months.

Over the same period, prices in Harristown, Darling Heights and South Toowoomba decreased 3.1%, 6.7% and 6.9% respectively.

The big gains and big drops almost evened out with the median house price for the year for the Toowoomba region down just 0.8% over the year.

REIQ Toowoomba zone chair David Snow said the March quarter was traditionally a strong selling period – reflected in the 426 houses and 79 acreages sold in the Toowoomba region.

Mr Snow said buyers were increasingly well educated and were happy to wait to get a property at a price they were willing to pay. “Buyers are more astute than ever,” he said. “They are getting that information more quickly than the vendors. The buyers are always the first ones to know.”

Mr Snow said over the long term the Toowoomba market was performing strongly and pointed to the median house price for the year that is up 21.1% from five years ago.

“The five-year change in many of the suburbs shows that overall the market has performed very well for investors and home buyers,” he said.

“But in real estate you’re not always guaranteed of capital growth, which is why some areas have dipped.”

Mr Snow said owner-occupiers continued to be main players in the market with investment slowing down.

He said Westbrook and Highfields continued to be excellent areas for first home buyers, but said the low prices in inner suburbs such as South Toowoomba would also be tempting.

“The year-on-year price in South Toowoomba surprises me. That’s an area that is quite close to the CBD and has a lot of character homes,” he said.