Gladstone residential market has emerging positives: REIQ's Mark Spearing

Mark Spearing, the chairman of the REIQ in Gladstone, understandably keeps getting asked "What will the market do over the next 12 months?"

"Firstly, however, we need to look outside of Gladstone, at what is happening globally, or nationally, then statewide, and of course locally and how the key pointers are aligning along the way," he wrote in the local paper, The Gladstone Observer.

"We currently have property market commentators making sweeping comments about the Australian housing market, and these opinions are skewed by the Sydney market that is absolutely flying in terms of competition for property."

He noted the south-east corner of Queensland was "travelling along nicely (in general terms), yet in central Queensland there are caution signs everywhere".

"The feel locally at present is that business in general is very tough and the cost of business is affecting employment, which in turn affects confidence and the housing market.

"This then affects all the associated industries and trades that are required to buy, sell, rent and build homes for our residents."

Spearing wrote more people were seeing the Gladstone market as a good buying prospect "with heaps of upside".

He noted a key indicators locally was the rental market that has stabilised over the quarter, that has been a long time coming.

"We all know the property market moves in cycles and now we are seeing some very interesting sales numbers come through, highlighting that more people are seeing our market as a good buying prospect with heaps of upside.

"Have we conceivably transitioned from an over priced market to an under valued one in super fast time?

"Time will tell."

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Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.