Regional cities in Queensland are topping the charts for price growth, with values surging faster than anywhere else in Australia.
Affordable property prices have drawn more buyers to northern and central Queensland in particular, fuelling property price growth that trumps the rest of the nation.
Across Australia, interstate investors and buyer’s agents are competing with locals for affordable homes in many regional centres, with intense demand causing double-digit growth in some cities.
PropTrack data shows that house prices in Mackay grew faster than in any other capital or regional city, rising almost 19% in just 12 months.
Townsville followed closely with house prices rising 17.4%, while Gladstone recorded a 16.5% increase in median values.
Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Cairns all recorded house price growth of at least 10% in the past year.
Unit price growth in these cities was even stronger, with Townsville up almost 21%, and Gladstone and Mackay both up about 20%.
House prices in Mackay jumped nearly 19% in the past year, earning a typical homeowner $100,000 in equity. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Meanwhile, the Western Australian cities of Bunbury and Busselton have slipped in the rankings compared to last year, while Geraldton has shot towards the top with 15.3% annual house price growth.
Even so, property owners in Busselton had made the largest equity gains of any regional city in the past year, with the median house value rising about $105,000, slightly ahead of Mackay where values climbed $100,000.
How house prices have changed in Australia's largest regional cities
| Local government area (LGA) | State | Median value (AVM) | 12-month change (%) | 12-month change ($) | |
| 1 | Mackay | QLD | $635,000 | 18.7% | $100,000 |
| 2 | Townsville | QLD | $625,000 | 17.4% | $93,000 |
| 3 | Gladstone | QLD | $597,000 | 16.5% | $85,000 |
| 4 | Geraldton | WA | $521,000 | 15.3% | $69,000 |
| 5 | Rockhampton | QLD | $543,000 | 13.2% | $63,000 |
| 6 | Toowoomba | QLD | $699,000 | 11.6% | $73,000 |
| 7 | Busselton | WA | $1,043,000 | 11.2% | $105,000 |
| 8 | Albury | NSW | $627,000 | 11.0% | $62,000 |
| 9 | Mildura | VIC | $471,000 | 10.9% | $46,000 |
| 10 | Bunbury | WA | $637,000 | 10.4% | $60,000 |
| 11 | Cairns | QLD | $716,000 | 10.0% | $65,000 |
| 12 | Bundaberg | QLD | $609,000 | 9.9% | $55,000 |
| 13 | Wodonga | VIC | $589,000 | 7.6% | $41,000 |
| 14 | Gold Coast | QLD | $1,301,000 | 7.5% | $91,000 |
| 15 | Tamworth | NSW | $537,000 | 6.6% | $33,000 |
| 16 | Ballina | NSW | $1,091,000 | 6.1% | $63,000 |
| 17 | Port Macquarie-Hastings | NSW | $872,000 | 6.1% | $50,000 |
| 18 | Wagga Wagga | NSW | $613,000 | 5.9% | $34,000 |
| 19 | Sunshine Coast | QLD | $1,162,000 | 5.8% | $64,000 |
| 20 | Bendigo | VIC | $584,000 | 5.6% | $31,000 |
| 21 | Newcastle | NSW | $993,000 | 5.2% | $49,000 |
| 22 | Shepparton | VIC | $494,000 | 4.1% | $20,000 |
| 23 | Wollongong | NSW | $1,083,000 | 4.0% | $42,000 |
| 24 | Ballarat | VIC | $552,000 | 3.4% | $18,000 |
| 25 | Wingecarribee | NSW | $1,198,000 | 3.1% | $36,000 |
| 26 | Coffs Harbour | NSW | $875,000 | 2.9% | $25,000 |
| 27 | Shoalhaven | NSW | $839,000 | 2.7% | $22,000 |
| 28 | Launceston | TAS | $541,000 | 2.2% | $12,000 |
| 29 | Orange | NSW | $672,000 | 1.7% | $11,000 |
| 30 | Geelong | VIC | $723,000 | 0.0% | $0 |
The data uses PropTrack’s automated valuation model (AVM) to determine the median property value for each local government area (LGA).
REA Group executive manager of economics Angus Moore said the data showed some of Western Australia’s booming regional markets had come off the boil a little, while conditions in some Queensland cities had heated up.
“Home prices in WA have been particularly strong in the past couple years, but it does look like the pace of growth is starting to slow down,” he said.
Custom Call to Action“That's consistent with WA's very strong population growth over the past few years — stronger even than Queensland — driven both by strong overseas migration, but also a lot of people moving to WA from interstate.”
“Those tailwinds are fading for WA now, and population growth is now pretty similar to Queensland.”
How unit prices have changed in Australia's largest regional cities
| Local government area (LGA) | State | Median value (AVM) | 12-month change (%) | 12-month change ($) | |
| 1 | Townsville | QLD | $419,000 | 20.8% | $72,000 |
| 2 | Gladstone | QLD | $380,000 | 20.2% | $64,000 |
| 3 | Mackay | QLD | $356,000 | 19.9% | $59,000 |
| 4 | Toowoomba | QLD | $527,000 | 19.5% | $86,000 |
| 5 | Rockhampton | QLD | $347,000 | 16.5% | $49,000 |
| 6 | Albury | NSW | $379,000 | 15.4% | $51,000 |
| 7 | Bundaberg | QLD | $440,000 | 13.4% | $52,000 |
| 8 | Cairns | QLD | $374,000 | 12.4% | $41,000 |
| 9 | Geraldton | WA | $333,000 | 11.1% | $33,000 |
| 10 | Bunbury | WA | $448,000 | 10.4% | $42,000 |
| 11 | Shoalhaven | NSW | $700,000 | 9.7% | $62,000 |
| 12 | Orange | NSW | $462,000 | 8.9% | $38,000 |
| 13 | Gold Coast | QLD | $865,000 | 8.9% | $70,000 |
| 14 | Busselton | WA | $697,000 | 8.7% | $56,000 |
| 15 | Sunshine Coast | QLD | $819,000 | 7.9% | $60,000 |
| 16 | Tamworth | NSW | $360,000 | 6.5% | $22,000 |
| 17 | Launceston | TAS | $451,000 | 5.5% | $24,000 |
| 18 | Wollongong | NSW | $722,000 | 4.7% | $32,000 |
| 19 | Ballarat | VIC | $389,000 | 4.5% | $17,000 |
| 20 | Wingecarribee | NSW | $928,000 | 4.5% | $40,000 |
| 21 | Newcastle | NSW | $745,000 | 3.3% | $24,000 |
| 22 | Port Macquarie-Hastings | NSW | $576,000 | 2.3% | $13,000 |
| 23 | Ballina | NSW | $739,000 | 2.2% | $16,000 |
| 24 | Coffs Harbour | NSW | $571,000 | 2.1% | $12,000 |
| 25 | Wagga Wagga | NSW | $401,000 | 1.9% | $7,000 |
| 26 | Geelong | VIC | $525,000 | 1.3% | $7,000 |
| 27 | Bendigo | VIC | $397,000 | 1.2% | $5,000 |
| 28 | Mildura | VIC | $288,000 | 1.0% | $3,000 |
| 29 | Shepparton | VIC | $360,000 | 0.9% | $3,000 |
| 30 | Wodonga | VIC | $377,000 | 0.3% | $1,000 |
The data shows that both house and unit prices are up in all of Australia’s 30 most populous LGAs outside the capitals, except Geelong where house prices were flat.
House prices in 22 of those regional cities grew faster than the 4.2% growth recorded for the combined capitals in the past year.
The majority of these cities also had faster price growth than their corresponding state capital.
The top five cities for house price growth all had median house values under $700,000.
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Mackay real estate agent and Explore Property Mackay owner Ben Chick said prices had surged recently due to a shortage of homes on the market amid strong demand from both locals and investors.
“Property values here have always been a bit slow to catch up,” he said. “We’ve been undervalued for a long time, so we’re probably late to the party.”
He said a scarcity of rentals had pushed up rents, attracting southern investors and encouraging more local first-home buyers to enter the market, while strong growth enabled established homeowners to upgrade.
“Because of the lack of supply of housing the rental market is extremely tight, it motivates more people to jump into a mortgage and buy a home,” he said.
“There is a lot more confidence in people spending higher prices on very nice homes.”
“Many years ago to sell a house for $1 million in Mackay was a rarity. Now its commonplace.”
Borderless investors target high rental yields
Geraldton real estate agent Will McKenzie of Professionals Geraldton said the number of available listings had plummeted recently, but buyer interest hadn’t waned.
“We still have the same amount of demand, if not more, from local buyers and interstate and out-of-town investors,” he said.
Investors and buyer’s agents chasing strong rental returns and capital growth were a major force in the market, making up about 40% of overall sales, he said.
Geraldton recorded the fourth fastest house price growth of all regional cities, with values climbing about 15% in 12 months. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
“18 months ago a lot of the bigger national buyer’s agencies were buying, then they stopped,” he said.
“Now we’re seeing a lot more of the smaller agencies and first-time investors, and in the past three months a couple of bigger name agencies coming back.”
Queensland and Western Australia weren’t the only states where prices boomed in regional cities in the past year, with strong price growth also recorded for a number of regional centres in NSW and Victoria.
House prices in Mildura in Victoria’s northwest were 10.9% higher than a year ago.
Local real estate agent and One Agency Mildura principal Mark Thornton said the market was busier than ever.
“There's a lot of external demand from Melbourne and Sydney at the moment,” he said. “We’re getting more demand now than what we did through the pandemic.”
House prices in Mildura are up almost 11% in the past year, but the median house value is still less than $500,000. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Much of that demand was coming from interstate investors purchasing through buyers agents based in the capitals, Mr Thornton said.
“We've never really had to deal with buyers agents in this market before,” he said. “Now there’s been times where you get 10-15 calls a day from buyer’s agents hunting for properties in Mildura.”
“From what we’ve been told from the buyer's agents we’re dealing with, it all comes down to yield.”
“The fact that we’ve got a diverse economy and are in growth mode right now is why Mildura is the number one place to buy in regional Victoria.”
Budget-conscious buyers seeking more affordable homes
House prices in Albury climbed 11% higher in the past 12 months, while unit price growth was even stronger at 15%.
Albury real estate Mikaela Gould of Stean Nicholls said investors, mostly from Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, had become increasingly active and were typically searching for freestanding three-bedroom homes in the $550,000 to $650,000 range.
Meanwhile, first-home buyers and downsizers were driving growth in the unit market, she said.
Across the Murray River, Wodonga recorded slightly slower growth at 7.6%, which Ms Gould linked to the more appealing investing environment in NSW compared with Victoria.
Units outpaced houses for price growth in most regional cities, with large differences recorded in Toowoomba, Orange, Albury, Gladstone and Bundaberg.
The median unit price was up almost 10% in the Shoalhaven LGA, which includes places such as Nowra, Jervis Bay and Ulladulla. Picture: Getty
Mr Moore said strong price growth across regional Australia had pushed some buyers towards more affordable options.
“Regional areas have seen very strong growth in recent years,” he said.
“With mortgage rates still at high levels, affordability is around its worst levels in three decades in many places, which is obviously a real constraint for a lot of buyers.”
“In that environment, more affordable options, like units, might be attractive for some buyers.”
House prices on the Gold Coast, Australia's largest regional city, are up 7.5% while unit prices are up about 9%.
Values in Wollongong, the largest regional city in NSW, rose 4% for house and almost 5% for units, while Newcastle house prices rose 5% and unit prices were up about 3%.
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