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Since floods raged through Townsville, the market has slowed and real estate agents have struggled to get listings, but sales have picked up for one agency.
November was a record month for Keyes & Co Property, as it had its most property sales. It also had 21 new listings in October and 20 in November.
“We haven’t seen that sort of volume in a number of years,” Keyes & Co Property’s Damien Keyes told Real Estate Business.
“We have also seen more listings than what we saw in the previous seven, eight, nine months.”
When the flood hit the town, it impacted the local market, which had a ripple effect on real estate options.
“We were giving out lots of advice to home owners in the area, but they weren’t coming to the market,” Mr Keyes said.
When October hit, the market suddenly bounced back, and there were buyers for the new listings.
The majority of the buyers were owner-occupiers, and half of those were locals who wanted to trade up, he said.
“That speaks to a broader confidence that prices aren’t going to get any lower,” he said.
“It feels you could draw a line in the sand and mark February as rock bottom for Townsville.
“With this volume picking up, we are on the turnaround.”
Townsville may not always be a destination of choice for many, but Mr Keyes said many people get won over by the lifestyle.
“We get people posting here in the medical maternity. They are usually here a year or two and get a taste of the lifestyle and decide to stay,” he said.
With local and state elections on the horizon for Queensland, Mr Keyes expects Townsville to get more attention from the state government.
After the results of the federal election earlier this year, it was apparent the impact regional Queensland had on the outcome. As a result, he expects the state government to loosen the purse strings to benefit the region.
