Affordable housing stocks double in city
More listings of homes for less than $300,000
MATHEW Phillips and his wife Amanda Miller are moving to Toowoomba to provide more opportunities for their son Ethan – and they might not be the last young family heading our way.
The real estate market in Toowoomba has seen a sharp increase in house listings valued under $300,000.
As of last week, there were more than 657 listings for properties, which according to the industry is double that from September.
Mr Philips and Ms Miller, who both work at schools outside Toowoomba, said the Garden City offered their son more sporting and other activities.
“We’ve got a six-year-old and essentially we were looking for somewhere where there was more for him to do, afterschool activities and sporting clubs,” he said.
“We liked the character of the house we bought (in Newtown for $270,000) – we like the older-style houses and like to make a few touches to them.”
LJ Hooker Toowoomba’s Jeremy Lewis said the influx of more affordable properties was driven by a generational changeover, from older investors to young couples.
“A lot of our current listings are being generated from investors where people are looking to sell their investment properties, or young families who are outgrowing their current ones,” he said.
“A lot of these properties are coming onto the market – they’ve held their property for a while and we’re also noticing young couples are in need of that stock.”
Agent and Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s Toowoomba president David Snow said the shift could benefit first home-buyers by offering them more market access.
“The land that is available for a home of say $350,000$400,000, is expensive for a first home-buyer,” he said.
“As vacancy rates diminish, and if that trend continues we’re going to see an increase in the cost of renting for the first-home buyers, the chance to borrow may become a realistic alternative.”