Emerald's residential turnover continues to rise; Herron Todd White

While values continue to slowly rise in Emerald, turnover has not yet matched that of former glory years, according to the latest report from valuation firm Herron Todd White.

“This is mainly due to a large portion of property owners still with negative equity having purchased in the boom years and not yet able to get out,” the March report found.

“Time is slowly changing this but it has stopped a lot of activity in the upgrade market and people moving around. We therefore are seeing predominantly new first-time home buyers, people moving to town or existing renters now buying.”

The rental market has firmed considerably and with vacancy below two percent, we are likely to see a lot more renters looking to buy.

There is definitely a large portion of young people in the town who have grown up here and stayed or who have moved to town with many jobs on offer in the resources sector and are buying.

Typically, they are active in the sub-$400,000 range.

“Investors are still a minority but are starting to show a bit more activity as rents have been increasing quicker then values in the majority,” the report concluded.