Generic aerial photo of Townsville. Picture: Supplied
Townsville needs more than 9000 new homes within the next five years to house its booming population, a new report has revealed, as the number of dwelling approvals in the North Queensland region has plummeted since 2021.
The recent report by property analyst Michael Matusik predicted prices in the critically undersupplied Townsville property market would shoot up, building on a strong run of price growth in 2024 and driven by the shrinking supply of new houses and apartments.
Mr Matusik said dwelling approvals and dwelling registrations had slumped so low in the past four years, the demand equation for current approvals in Townsville was sitting at one new dwelling for every six adults looking for a home while dwelling registrations were at one new dwelling for almost nine adults.
Mr Matusik said the city had grown by an estimated 3850 new residents in 2024, taking Townsville’s population to 205,283 and making it the region’s largest growth spurt on record.
“Much of the lift in population growth is expected to be in older age groups, and in particular downsizers and retirees, which is leading to heightened demand for premium apartments,” he said.
At the same time property prices in the NQ region had skyrocketed.
Building approvals are down in Townsville. Picture: David Clark
Mr Matusik said Townsville has been among the top regional performers with median apartment and home values surging almost 30 per cent in 2024 – led by apartment price growth.
“The Townsville market is well into the upswing phase of the property cycle as evidenced by median house values increasing 28 per cent last year,” he said.
“But local median apartment prices were tracking even higher than the broader market, rising 29 per cent.
“This compares with the median results for other major Australian regions, which saw housing prices rise, on average, just 3.5 per cent during 2024.”
The report found almost 1875 new residences would need to be built in Townsville each year over the next five years to meet sustained demand.
Mr Matusik said the Townsville unit market was particularly undersupplied and with just two approved apartment projects in Townsville to hit the market in the past twelve months, representing 50 dwellings in total, supply issues looked to continue.
Property analyst Michael Matusik. Picture: Bev Lacey
The Matusik report found on average across the Queensland coast, new boutique apartments were typically priced between $20,000 per square metre and $22,000 per square metre – levels likely to hold despite any potential market corrections.
“This price has almost doubled since Covid-19,” said the report.
“It is important to note that whilst pricing has increased substantially since the pandemic this was primarily due to the increases in the cost of construction.
“These costs are fixed and not market driven, so any correction to costs of construction is unlikely.
“In fact, it is very rare – when looking back over five decades of data – that housing construction prices fall.”
One of the developments underway in Townsville is Maidment Group’s $65 million ‘Marina Residences’.
Comprising 18 apartments across 10 levels, Marina Residences apartments range in price from $2.7m to $3.5m, with a 495sqm Sky Home priced at $7.5m.
The development offers gross floor rates of $12,000 to $15,500 per square metre.
“This is around 35 per cent less than similar new apartment product elsewhere along the Queensland coast,” Mr Matusik’s report said.
English (US) · 