In an article penned by Peter Wheeler, the managing director of Colliers Townsville noted that the city “is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation transformation”.
“The city feels alive; apart from coming off the back of major events like NAFA, V8’s, rugby league – including the record-setting women’s State of Origin – and a host of other local events, our region’s economy continues to gain momentum,” he shared.
From his perspective, housing is key to keeping the Townsville CBD abuzz for years to come, even as the hype “very much remains around critical minerals and green energy, which north Queensland can provide in spades”.
According to him, there is no doubt that such hype around important sectors is driving the ongoing interest in all areas of the local property market, with properties continuing to transact despite the local market remaining undersupplied in both investment and vacant stock.
This is all sitting against the backdrop of strong values which are still rising, especially for existing vacant or semi-vacant buildings that “are attractive to the owner-occupier market”.
Mr Wheeler also pointed out that the current lack of availability and the persisting construction challenges for new buildings has kept upward pressure on prices, while simultaneously putting brakes on new development.
Amid it all, renewal is taking place in the city centre, with Mr Wheeler espousing that a recent busy period for property sales is still underway – the properties that are available are “being snapped up” – while leasing activity continues to perform.
The director has lauded efforts of Townsville City Council, which has updated its CBD incentive packages to encourage smaller businesses to lease within the city’s centre, while noting it remains critical that the city’s operators “keep the foot on the pedal when it comes to housing strategies or we’ll miss out on these economic opportunities”.
From his perspective: “If we are able to achieve housing outcomes in our CBD this would go a long way towards us achieving the target of 30,000 people living and working in our CBD by 2030!”
Townsville’s transformation comes as nearby Yeppoon and Bowen make headlines for lifestyle and affordability reasons.
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