Mackay's housing median price sees second-largest annual fall
Mackay's housing market has had its second-largest annual housing median price fall, according to the REIQ'S Queensland Monitor Market's latest report.
Mackay reported the second-largest fall in the state’s annual median price, falling 8.7 percent from $345,000 in March 2016 to $315,000 this quarter.
Over five years the fall has been 24.6 percent, from $418,000 in 2012.
Sales volumes increased from 256 over the September quarter to 311 over the December quarter.
Listings have also increased, up by 40.5 percent, effectively preventing rising demand from putting upward pressure on prices.
Listings bumped up from 2372 listings in February 2016 to 3332 listings in February 2017.
The increasing number of listings has eliminated the benefits from the increasing demand of housing.
In contrast to other areas in regional Queensland, median days on market and median vendor discounting improved for the 12 months to February 2017.
Median days on market reduced from 81 days in February 2016 to 69 days on February 2017, and, median vendor discounting reduced from 10.7 per cent to 9.8 per cent for the 12 months to February 2017.
This is a clear indication that demand is increasing and vendors are having more realistic price expectations.
For a fourth consecutive quarter, the median sale price for units followed a downward trend triggering a reduction in the annual median sale price of 14.6 per cent, from $266,500 in March 2016 to $217,500 for March 2017.
This compared with the median sale price of $325,000 five years ago in March 2012.
The most active price range for units is for transactions below $250,000.
The volume of transactions in Mackay has increased by 75.8 per cent from 33 sales in September to 58 sales in December.
The size of the unit market remains very small, which adds a level of complexity and challenges to a market where the number of listings increased by 57.5 per cent for the 12 months to February 2017.
The market trend indicators to February 2017 position Mackay as the region with the longest median days on market (133 days or more than four months) and the highest vendor discounting (13.9 per cent).
The rental market in Mackay is weak, although the vacancy rate tightened from 7.9 per cent to 6.4 per cent in March.
Local agents indicated that vacant properties usually receive only one rental application and tenants have their choice of available properties.
The weekly median rent over the March quarter held steady or increased for three-bedroom houses, three-bedroom townhouses and two-bedroom units.
This was just the reflection of a stronger rental demand over the first quarter of the year.
When assessing the 12-month trend for weekly median rents, three-bedroom houses and three-bedroom townhouses have followed a downward trend while two-bedroom units remained steady.
This demonstrates the long- term challenges experienced by the rental market in Mackay.