Market bounces back
Now’s the time for government to move department to city
SINCE COVID-19 hit, we’ve been saying that there’s no place you’d rather be than Townsville.
We’ve had enough time under our belt now to start to see if we were right — and from the perspective of the property market, it certainly looks good.
Townsville’s best economic asset in a crisis like this was always going to be its diversity — our strong base of government employment and industries ranging from mining to agriculture.
These early predictions are now being seen in the market. It didn’t take long for commercial leasing to pick back up after an initial shock.
Most importantly, this has been across the board — while mining has provided a helpful boost, construction and professional services are also performing strongly in a leasing market that is overall in a better position than it was before COVID.
We’re also really pleased to see interest in the region from investors remains strong.
BY PETER WHEELER,
Naturally, the leasing market was always going to return faster than sales which require a much greater commitment and confidence in the market.
But even sales have now picked up to levels they were preCOVID, particularly for industrial properties.
We’re seeing much better outcomes than we could’ve hoped for six months ago.
COVID still provides us with an opportunity to rethink how we do things, especially with an election just days away and all sides of politics talking about regional recovery.
I’ve said in this column before that we need to see a serious commitment to bringing a whole government department to the city.
Now is the time for our leaders to answer the call.
More people than ever are looking for opportunities outside of population-dense capital cities and governments are searching for big ideas to boost the regions.
Add to that cheaper commercial property in Townsville — our average office space costs half that of Brisbane’s so there are significant savings to be had for the government on this front, while easing population pressure in the southeast, and driving growth in North Queensland.
The time for talking is over, it’s time for some serious action!