Market surge in suburbs

ROSSLEA and Balgal Beach led a surge in prices in the Townsville real estate market.

According to CoreLogic figures, 25 suburbs recorded an increase in median house prices in the three months to August 2017.

Rosslea recorded the biggest increase at 28.9 per cent, followed by Balgal Beach ( 25.3 per cent) and Nelly Bay ( 11.1 per cent).

All three suburbs have also had a rise in median house prices above 15 per cent during the past 12 months.

Bushland Beach recorded the lowest increase out of the 25 suburbs at 0.1 per cent.

REIQ regional director and owner of Keys & Co Property Damien Keyes said resales of homes at the Fairways estate in Rosslea would have contributed to price rises, while Balgal Beach was starting to attract interest from southern buyers in search of a beachside lifestyle.

“It’s that increase in demand from outside of the region that pushes up the broader market,” he said.

“It will be interesting to see what comes out of the December quarter because we are seeing a lot of activity.”

RE/ MAX Townsville director Mark Stevenson said he had noticed a shift in the market.

“We’re now taking more properties, including units, to auction,” he said.

“That bit of confidence is coming back into the market and it’s on the back of QNI collapsing and there was that whole period where unemployment was pushed up and people were putting their properties on the market and it created an oversupply.”