Real estate slows down
Reports shine light on trends
TWO new reports have revealed Toowoomba’s real estate market has remained stable, but slow over recent months.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland September market monitor revealed “not much had changed with respect to the performance of the house and unit markets in Toowoomba over the September quarter”.
“Annual median prices in both markets held steady at an annual median price of $352,000 for houses and $305,000 for units,” the report said.
“The vacant land market in Toowoomba is slightly smaller than the unit market. A total of 465 medium-to-high density dwellings reached settlement for the year to September compared to a total of 420 vacant blocks of land settled over the same period.
“Similar to other Queensland property markets, market conditions weakened as house and unit sales volumes trended downwards and listing volumes increased adding a larger pool of purchase options to the market.”
A report from Herron Todd White revealed the demand for vacant land in Toowoomba has “slowed significantly”.
The December market monitor revealed Toowoomba was at the bottom of the market on the property clock for both the general residential market and the unit market, a position it has been in for several months.
“Demand for vacant land has slowed significantly as a result of reduced investor demand and limited local buyer enquiry for lots of less than 500 square metres,” the report said.
“Sales rates for land in new housing estates are very slow, especially when compared to recent years where projects often sold out off the plan.
“Developers are starting to look at buyer incentives to attract interest in their respective projects. Unit development has also slowed.”
Some of these incentives include potential buyers not having to pay a deposit on the property because of the first home buyers grant and the grants from developers.