Inside Hervey Bay’s Housing Boom – Prices, Rentals & What’s Next

Inside Hervey Bay’s Housing Boom – Prices, Rentals and What’s Next

In this episode, we dive into what is really happening in the Hervey Bay residential property market right now.

Joining us is Kim Carter, Principal of Carter Cooper Realty, one of the region’s most experienced and high-performing agents. With over 25 years in the market and consistent national recognition, Kim shares what she is seeing on the ground every day.

We break down the key drivers behind Hervey Bay’s housing boom, from price growth and rental demand to buyer behaviour and future trends.

In this episode, you will learn:

What the residential market feels like right now in Hervey Bay
How much property prices have increased over recent years
What is happening in the rental market and vacancy rates
The role of interstate buyers and ongoing demand
How global factors like interest rates are shaping decisions
The reality of listings versus sales in today’s market
What separates top agents from the rest
Practical advice for new agents entering the industry
Where the market is heading over the next 2 to 3 years

This is a real conversation with real insights from someone at the centre of the market.

If you are buying, selling, investing, or simply trying to understand what is next for Hervey Bay, this episode gives you a clear view of the landscape.

Subscribe for more local insights, market updates, and conversations with the people shaping the Fraser Coast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Fraser Coast Property Brief, the podcast where property, development, and business leaders share what's really happening across the Fraser Coast. Each episode brings you insights into local projects, market trends, and the people helping shape the future of our region. Welcome. Today we're going to talk about what's inside Harvey Bay's property housing boom, prices, rentals, and what's going on next. So today we're talking residential property in Harvey Bay, what's really happening on the ground. We're going to be talking about what's get ahead for the next few years, and there's no one better to have this conversation with than Kim Carter from Carter Coopid Realty. Kim's been in the market for over 25 years here and got a lot of experience. That's correct, yes. Yeah, so well done. So do you want to give me a bit of a um background on yourself? Just a brief on who you are and what you do in the market?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Thanks, Glenn. Uh yes, well, I started um in the solicitor's office when I was 16, and then I went to work there for 15 years and then went into real estate by default, really. Um and then ever since then I worked for Michael Joles Real Estate, and then as you know, he passed away, and then Michelle and I started up Carter Key for Realty.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Yes, I probably knew you when you were 16 coming into Suncorp in those days. It's a long time ago. Yeah, come see your father, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

I remember all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

So let's start off with um this give us a bit of an overview of the market snapshot. So, how does the residential market feel in general right now?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

It's still strong. It's still strong. There I would say the frenzy has gone out of the market, um, and you need to nurture buyers more at the moment. You need to call them back. Um, they're not calling you, you need to call them. Um, but it's still strong. We just have don't see the urgency there.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Um also forgot to mention you're also REIQ local zone chair. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah, so um I saw some recent REIQ stats come out. I think you gave them to me the other week. Um the phrase coast average is about $735,000 for a house, and we've gone up 12.7% over the last 12 months. Um, do you still see that momentum happening?

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Yes. Yes, like um at the moment we probably I don't have any houses under 600 listed for sale. We've seen that rise, and then I would think it's probably around the mid-eights now.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Yeah, so Harvey Bay is obviously higher than Mirabara, these stats are right across the whole Fraser Coast Council. That's right. So Harvey Bay, what might be mid mid-850s or something now?

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yeah, I'd say yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

And since COVID, we've uh had a dramatic increase in prices probably over the last five years consistently. So what was it like five years ago to it is now?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

The market.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yeah, and the and the values.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Well, I suppose when when c when COVID hit, nobody knew what was going to happen. I think everyone thought they were going to be out of out of a job, and that turned around within two weeks and it took off and it just kept we've had that gradual growth. We haven't had um a steep growth, which means that we we should long term maintain our prices where we are now.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yeah, we come from a very low base. So GFC in 2008, we we had a fairly stagnant market, probably nearly eight or ten years, and we were so far below the state average and and real pricing when COVID hit. So those first few years were just catch-up. Um it's only in the last couple of years that we've we've got a fairly you know high level of cost in the in the market at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

And especially in units, I've noticed that you know a lot of people that bought prior to the GFC are probably now making money if they still got that investment.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Yeah, yeah, because a lot of the high rises went backwards for many years after that.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

So, what's our drivers of you know I've been here since the 80s? It was Melbourne in the 1980s, it was Sydney in the 1990s, you know, mainly western suburbs. Um, I'm seeing a trend and looking at statistics. We are starting at Southeast Queensland, anything from north and gold coast through to Sunshine Coast moving here. What what trends are you seeing? So, where are the mainly buyers coming from?

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, and I think that's because for 1.5 million on the Sunshine Coast, you're only at entry level trying to get in. So they're coming up here, but the their buyers are coming from Melbourne and Sydney and buying on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, but it's because they feel that Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast is too busy now.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Yeah, are people getting pushed out of those markets or are they just cashing in and getting a better lifestyle up here?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

No, I think they they want out. Um, a lot of them are people that lived on the coast for a long time, but they want a quieter lifestyle. And having the hospitals and the infrastructure that we've got here, it's appealing.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Yeah, I suppose that relates to our age bracket. So we've got an average age of 51 year old, state average is 38. Um, what's your biodemographic? Is it the retirees moving here or is it the working families?

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Oh, I would say mainly retirees, but we are seeing a lot of 50 plus um moving here for a lifestyle. Um, but then during COVID, we saw a lot of young families moving here, which was a good thing too.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yep, everybody was getting out of the uh capital cities during the yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Well they had they had family here too, so they were coming up, but and a lot of the people did take leave from their job or work from home, and some have transact gone back.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

All right. Let's jump into the rental market. So more stats from the REIQ. The uh residential vacancy rate for the Fraser Coast is 1.3%, Harvey Bay is about 1.2%, Meribor is 0.9%, so it's very tight Meribor. But a balanced market is usually 2.5 to 3.5% vacancy rate. So how tight is our rental market on the ground?

SPEAKER_00 6:09

It is tight. Um, we've probably got more properties available now than we have seen for the last four years out there. Uh around about six up to six hundred, there's a lot of people taking tenants taking it up, but over six hundred, um, that seems to have quitened off a little. But having said that, we're still getting the families. But we had a lot from the floods last year as well, where people were all in, you know, staying in the properties, rentals were all taken up from that.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yep. We had 600 mil in January last year, so it's been about a year to clean that up with the insurance company.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

So a lot of people only just got back into their houses now.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yep. Um, so we also got a building boom here at the moment, so you've got a lot of trades coming from out of town and moving into the area. Are they taking up short-term accommodation or or how are how are we dealing with that? Because we don't have enough localized trades.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

No, no, they are taking up a lot of them, are taking up six month and twelve-month leases.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Um, and they are very good because they do they have a cleaner come in weekly, so the pro everyone's property is looked after.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yep. So I noticed over last year there's been a lot of owner-occupiers buying properties. Is there a swing back to investors now getting back into the market and buying properties to rent out?

SPEAKER_00 7:26

I think people feel comfortable buying investment properties now, um, especially here because they've they can get the return similar to what you can get down the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, which is good.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Yep, yeah. The rents have jumped a fair bit. What you know, what's the average four-bedroom house worth to rent out now? You know, a new house?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Oh, well, you probably I would say six fifty, but um the upmarket ones are going for six seventy-five, seven hundred.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Plus, yeah. So that so that's where the apartment market's starting to get in because it's more affordable?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Absolutely. Yep, absolutely. And I mean, it's especially with the way that the rental market is, like, you know, it's good to have a good property manager too, so that you can actually know that you're prop being looked after.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Small plug for Kim, Carter Cooper Realty. You've got a large property management portfolio. So if you do need a place to rent, uh contact Kim.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Contact Donna.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Contact Donna, not Kim. Kim will probably sell the house for you.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

All right, let's talk about some negative stuff going on at the moment. Um, we've got the Iran conflict, which has caused major fuel crises, uh, which has caused panic in the market, and we also had an interest rate increase during the week. So, what's happening over the last couple of weeks? What are buyers talking about? Are they getting nervous? Has it slowed?

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Um, again, the buyers are probably not jumping in as much. Um, I wouldn't say they're nervous because people still have to shift places. So we've still got people who need to move um and and are wanting to move. So, you know, you do have that all the time, but they do consider things more and they'll take their time.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Yep. So you if you put a house on the market, it's not going in a few days anymore. People are just a bit more considered and a bit more wary, or I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Like sometimes we can put them on and think that it this could take a little while and it's gone within three days. So it still does that's what I mean. There's still buyers out there and there's still it's still a good strong market.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

So do you think the buyers are feeling this is just a short-term issue, or are they feeling it as a more longer-term nervousness?

SPEAKER_00 9:34

I think it's a correction at the moment. You know, I think it's only going to be it depends too what happens. Like it's daily at the moment what's happening overseas, and if we've got no petrol, we won't be able to show houses.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

No, unless you've got an electric car, which none of us have.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

No.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

So uh, yeah, that would be interesting going around. You can do tours around Harvey Bay on electric scooters.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

We can have high Viz um jackets on.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yep. Um, so the interest rate hike during the week that quarter of a per cent again. Did that have an effect? Because um Harvey Bay's got a probably lower than state average of people with mortgages because we've got a lot of retirees cashed up moving here.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

Is the interest rate uh spike alone having an effect on the purchasing power or well it will because it does affect the buyer's borrowing capacity?

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

So at the end of the day, you know, the buyer probably could borrow 800,000, whereas now they're probably only going to be able to borrow 750.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yep. And we've got a double-edged sword with this uh petrol crisis. We're already seeing it now in the new houses. We're getting excise through from suppliers and some transport companies, things like that, and pumps, concrete, that you know, they're putting 20%, 30% excise. And it's only just started, and it suddenly gets this start. You know, I talked to some of the the larger builders over the week or so. They think house to build a new house could be increased by $50,000 by the end of the year, the way it's going. So um, you know, it's a bit of a worrying thing with the uh trying to get a balance of what's affordable in this area because our income is lower than average because obviously the retirees. So it it's got to have an effect. Um depends what um happens over the next week or two, that whether they start releasing some more oil out of the straits. But I I still think the the fundamentals of our market are very strong longer term.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Absolutely. Um so you know it could be and it's as you know, a market's driven by demand. So whilst you've got the demand coming, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

All right, let's have a talk about listings and sales at the moment. You know, you've been in a game a long time, you've been through a lot of different market cycles, and you know, we've been in markets where you could have something for 180 days you couldn't sell it, and markets where you have something for two days you could sell it. So, what's harder at the moment? Is it getting the listings or selling the properties?

SPEAKER_00 12:03

No, it it's it's about getting the listings at the right price. Like, you know, if you have three or four agents go out and someone you can you can have a two hundred thousand dollar range of what people say the houses were, so then the sellers get confused, but their natural instinct is to go for the highest price, and then they're sitting on the market. So, you know, if you price a house properly, it should sell within a short period of time.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

So is it the owners' expectations that are unrealistic, or is it somebody agents putting unrealistic sale prices on to get the listings?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

It's unrealistic to get the listings, but then that then gives the sellers the expectations of a higher price. And once someone's got that in their head that that's what they're getting for their property, it's very hard to say to them, well, these are the offers coming through.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

So, how do you go with those tougher conversations to a seller and saying, well, the price you're getting told is not correct, here's the real price, and is it getting through, or do you lose many because they don't want to reality check at the start?

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Well, it it's about building a relationship with the sellers, and then I think the better relationship you have and the more communication, the more that they're they're understanding how it works all the way along. It's not just going to their house after three weeks and saying, I've got an offer here you have to take.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

So if you have that conversation, update them as you go along. That makes them aware of what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

So it's giving them real feedback from open homes, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yep. So that that sounds like an experienced agent talking there, um, rather than some of the new ones that want to just buy listings, really. Yeah. Seen that over the years.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

That will always happen, won't it?

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah, it it always has.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Um so I actually saw statistics the other day, there's less agents now, this time this year, than what there was this time last year.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

In Harvey Bay?

SPEAKER_00 13:52

No, no, in Australia.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Oh, in Australia, why, is it? Yeah, well I suppose it, you know, the it it's a I think it was the old statistic was about 80% of salespeople fail within two years of going in real estate.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

So they burn out.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Yeah, yeah. So there's not a lot staying at, you know, like, you know, besides the two of us, I can probably only put a handful of people that are still in the industry here that's been here 20 years ago. Um, there's a lot of young ones coming in, which is good for the next generation.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Um, but yeah, it takes years to build up that reputation and build up the following. Because it's all about referrals, especially a town like this. Um, you know, what's your main market? You know, it's your main marketing method, word of mouth, or marketing, advertising, or your photos on the back of buses I see all around Harvey Boat.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

If I had a dollar for everyone that took a photo as they're driving.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

And send it to you.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

That's exactly right. And sometimes the bus is in Brisbane, so I get it from there too.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

I did. I saw one of those buses. My my nephew sent one up to me.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

I'm everywhere. But no, I think you know, like it selling and marketing is about having yourself out there. Um, I get a lot of referral work and people ring up or they've got family or something like that, but it's also keeping up with, you know, the videos, Facebook, everything like that. And the I've got a strong team that keep pushing that. They haven't converted me totally yet, but they're working on it.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Right. So you've dominated the market for a long term. You know, you've been the lead salesperson in the area, and and it's not just one year, it's you know, it's successive years for about 10 years or so. So, what's your key to success? You know, I you know, I know you personally, so I know you're a hard worker because I we often have phone calls at six o'clock at night or seven o'clock or something like that, talking about a sale we haven't caught up with during the day. What do you say your key to success is?

SPEAKER_00 15:43

I think it's consistency. So you just need to be consistent, and a lot of people, a lot of salespeople, I see them go wrong where they try to they'll go out and list five properties and sell them and they're all excited, and then all of a sudden they realise they've got nothing else, and then their income will go down for the next three months. So if you're consistent and you're constantly out there, and it's the old rule, it's ten before ten.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

You know, you ring ten people before ten o'clock and have your appointments, that's gonna go a long way.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Not many people do it these days.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

No.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Um I I'd notice with the the uh younger generation that they'd prefer to text or email rather than have a conversation where I'm always saying the stuff, just get on the phone and fix it.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Um they send an email, wait for 24 hours for somebody to ring them back, and they wonder why they don't.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

And it's the same with you know, issues with pest and building and um issues that that crop up, like the sellers ring you to fix that and rely on you for advice on what to do. So the more experience you've got, the more chance you've got of seeing that contract right through to the end.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Yeah, so what's more important? Hard work or good systems?

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Good systems.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

So is that the good systems on your marketing or how you follow people up or how you chase inquiries or all of that? Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Yeah. And I think I think systems are everything, but systems don't just work themselves, you need to put in the hard work as well and follow everything up because if you don't follow people up, you're not going to get the reward.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

Yep. And what's your key advice to following people up? Is it ringing, face-to-face, emails?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

I like I always email the information to them, and then if I don't hear from them, I'll either follow them up with another email or a phone call. But it's just or you know, hey, have you seen that this house has been listed in your street for so much? Because the more market knowledge you've got, the more likely that people are you know are impressed by what you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

And and that's one thing I've noticed with a lot of the newer people in the industry, they don't spend the time getting the market knowledge, they don't do the research, they don't understand, you know, what every house in that street sold for or what our population is or what our growth is.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

And that's right.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

And so market knowledge, you know, especially in my game, is probably one of the most important things I I can actually do on a weekly basis.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

And if you can learn something every day, well, you're still alive.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yep, I go for the uh it's the Casey and effect, which is one percent better every day. You just you just get one percent better every day, and then you know your whole team's a lot better by the end of the year. So you're in the REIQ, so you get exposed to a lot of agents right across Australia. You go to a lot of conferences, um, you sit on the state board, you go down there. What separates the top agents, and they're probably only the top five percent, to the rest of the average agents in the industry? What's the what's the few things you see that's consistent with those people that the others don't do?

SPEAKER_00 18:54

It's the determination and the drive.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

A lot of time it's ego. It's ego. If their ego's there and they can get out there, like you know, I know some of the top agents that just have the best systems and can sell, and there's other top agents that I've met, and they just turning everything over, but they're putting everything back into it because their their ego won't let them not be that number one anymore.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Is it ego is it or is it self-confidence and self-belief?

SPEAKER_00 19:22

There's a lot of self-confidence there too.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Because I've seen a lot of agents with big egos are not very good at job.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

So but you know, like there's a lot of people out there that it's it's attracting people in different ways. Like some people do these um videos where they're jumping in cars and everything. It's it's really good. Like, and that's the young ones coming through. Yeah, they're very much into um Instagram and everything like that.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yeah, marketing, we we did a uh we did a segment, the previous one, which is uh with Carla on brand talking about marketing and how marketing's changed from 20, 25 years ago when it was most important thing to have window stickers on your agency, and you had to be in a high-profile spot. And if the tourist didn't drive past or walk past your window, you weren't getting deleted and you weren't getting inquiries, and you're doing very random walk-out and hit and miss on who you're gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

You'd be very surprised how many people still stop on our window. They still and especially at night time if I walk downstairs for something, there's people on the window, because there's ice cream, fish, and chips, so right.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

So, um what's your advice for new agents? Um, there's a you know, we we as a city and an industry need the next wave of agents coming through. So we need the 20 to 35 year olds coming up and staying in this for long term. This it's too many people see it as a short-term career, but you know, it's a very good, it's very lucrative career if you're good at it. So, what should new agents focus on when they first get into the industry?

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Well, I call it like a shark tank out there. So, you know, there's a lot of sharks there, and if you're new and you don't have knowledge, it's very hard to break into it. Whereas if you go in and you work with an agent who has been in the industry for a long time, it gives you that confidence and it it's training. That's what it is. There's a lot of agents that are out there and they think that real estate's driving around having coffee every day. Well, as you know, that doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Well, it happens with John in my office, but most people it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Yeah, but I mean, you know, it is about it's about training and it's about your market knowledge. And I remember when I first started, the best advice that I was given was go out and list every block of land you can because that's advertising for you.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

Yep. So what's the biggest mistakes new agents make getting into the market?

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Thinking it's easy.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Yep. So what what's you know, what's the hard bit? Is it getting the new listings or is it trying to close the sale?

SPEAKER_00 21:58

It's I think when you're new the Hardest thing is I remember when I first started, um family wouldn't list with me because they didn't have the confidence because I'd only just started, and so they gave it to somebody else in Harvey Bay. Whereas now they do ring up. So it is, I think it's a confidence thing, and people are not going to list with someone who has only just started and only got one sale or something like that. Whereas if you've got the training and sh and can prove to people, and you do have to start somewhere too. So you you've got to get out there.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

And that is a hard thing, you know. Like I started insurance and in real estate back in around 1990. And and the insurance.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Oh, still at school, then.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Hey? No, it used to come in there. No, I wasn't. You're making me sound old. I wasn't at school. Um, but the the ins even starting insurance, which is sales, it's the same thing. They used to say, start targeting family first. Get your family, get them involved. And the one bit of advice I got very early on was in back in days of the newspaper, read the paper every day, look at births, marriages, and deaths. Because they're the three things, they're the game changers where people make decisions and change, either buy insurance or move house or downsize or whatever else. So they're three triggers in people's lives that actually change their decision making going forward.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

And every week in the street, someone's situation changes.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah, it does. So, you know, and I don't think people are trained to look out for those things. They're just they've got the same pitch, they're going out the same week, and they're treating the people the same, whether they're, you know, a pensioner, uh a 25-year-old or an executive, they've still got the same sales pitch rather than actually spending five minutes getting rapport and understanding the person. So, how much it's building a relationship. Yeah, how how how important is it to get a rapport with your buyers and your sellers?

SPEAKER_00 23:53

100%.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

If you've got if you've got the confidence of um buyers and sellers and you spend that time building that relationship with them, they listen to you. Yeah, whereas they're not going to listen to you if they don't believe in you.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

Yeah, so it's a big trust aspect. So let's talk about the future. So Harvey Bay, Fraser Coast has been booming since COVID. We've got about 120,000 people in the Fraser Coast. We're probably still growing at 2.5%. So we've got about anywhere between 2.5,000 to 2,800 people moving here. That's probably 1,1200 housing products on the ground every year that people need to move in. That's new, that's not just turnover thing. So, where do you see, you know, get past this uh small blip with the Iran war and petrol prices when we get back to normal? Where do you see the Harvey Bay market next two to three years?

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Oh well, obviously I can see it being much stronger. But I mean, we didn't think you look at the prices we're achieving now and didn't think that was possible, so you know you just don't know what what could happen. But uh again, you've got that demand coming from down south, and I think it's just going to keep pushing. We're getting a lot of people from Townsville.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Townsville too.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

They they don't want to be in Brisbane, but they want to be close to Brisbane.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Right. So I haven't seen much path coming south, but yeah, I'm seeing more in the Sunshine Coast now that I've seen in many years because that's just become a bit unaffordable. So our growth path is you know, going up to the Olympics in 2032, do you still think we'll have the same solid growth path for the next four or five years?

SPEAKER_00 25:34

I think it's still going to remain strong, yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

So and we've also got, you know, like I mean, there's more infrastructure here. So the more infrastructure that's here, the more appealing it's going to be to people.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Yeah. So what about price growth? Do you you know we had 12% growth in the last 12 months. What do you still see those double-digit growths in price, or do you see that settling down a little bit and going down?

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Again, it depends on what happens over the next few months. Like if we can get over this hurdle and move on, we'll probably it would at least be a nine to ten percent growth if you still got the push from down south.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Yep. And you know, you're getting a lot of uh out-of-town people, a lot of interstate people. What's the thing that's missing here in Harvey Bay that needs to support the growth? You know, what's sort of infrastructurally missing or social or cultural things that are people saying to you that we need in Harvey Bay?

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Well, a lot of people saying, you know, more variety for restaurants, and then you get people that say we've got a lot of variety for restaurants, so it's more for the young people what they can do. Like when I grew up, we had two, three nightclubs here. Yep, there's no nightclubs here at all. And I'm not saying but like you see the young kids and they go to the gym to catch up with people because that's their social.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Yeah, yeah, I yeah, I noticed a massive change. And it is you know, like we've got an aging population with 51-year-olds, that means 22% of our working population are in the health industry. About a third of that in the health industry are probably within 10 years of retirement. So our biggest challenge is getting 25-year-olds to 40-year-olds moving to Harvey Bay, like you're never gonna keep the 18 to 24-year-olds, so you're gonna go get a university degree, they're gonna go get a career. Some come back, but a lot of them just staygone. So if you're gonna attract that young family, 25 to 40-year-old, um, you know, our housing product needs to change as well. You know, the affordability issue is one thing, but it's called gentle density. I don't like to you use the word downsizing, it's more right sizing for the type of people because they don't want to be sitting there mowing the lawns all weekend and doing the gardens. No, everyone's socialized.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Everyone doesn't want an 800 square meter block. Like, you know, if you had blocks of units, and I think I've said it other things like does that show Melrose Place put them all? Even one of the retirement, one of the over 50s, if you gave that to all the young people and sold them off to them, they can get into the market. Yep, it'll be something that they could actually say that they own a home. We don't know what's going to happen after when they're all full, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

So, where do you see the trend in the houses going? You you probably sell mainly four-bedroom houses. Where do you see the trend in the next few years? Is it apartments, townhouses, high rising?

SPEAKER_00 28:23

But we've seen the trend for units increase in the last 12 months, like you know, duplexes, things like that. They just want, especially if they're in the in the health industry, they don't want to be doing that all the time. They just want to come home, have an air-conditioned house that they can go to the beach or go and exercise something.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

All right. A couple of quick questions to wrap up. So, where's the best suburbs at the moment? What's what's firing or which suburbs are selling the most? Right, the gray ferry at the back, yep.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yes, is always mainly new housing or oh no, no, we've um we've got some houses that we've achieved good prices on in Irrowin at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

So, what do you reckon the most underrated suburb is?

SPEAKER_00 29:04

The most underrated suburb is Kawungan.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Kwangan.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

And it's it's the best position. Like I know that everything's within 10 minutes or 15 minutes of anywhere, but Kowangan is in a little pocket there, and there's some really good homes in Kawangan.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

That's good. Um biggest buyer mistakes that they're making getting into the market?

SPEAKER_00 29:27

I think again, listening to people like you know, we're we're seeing a lot of people come in saying, Oh, I got told I could get $700 a week for this, but I can't get $700 a week, like realistically at $650, so that affects their investment straight away. So again, it's you know being gullible and accepting what people say to get the listing.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

Yep. And what's one tip you can give the sellers if they're going to put the house on the market?

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Okay, get your three agents out, see who you feel comfortable with, and it's not necessarily the highest priced um agent that's going to get you the results.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah, what about presentation?

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Presentation's big. We do go in and like I'm always spend 20 minutes with people saying if you're going to sell, I suggest you do this or do this, just to give them an idea because a lot of people don't know, but they're prepared to work with you to get it done. It doesn't have to be a show home because you still need to live in it.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

Yep. All right, I think that's nearly a wrap. Um, Kim, I really appreciate time today. Some really great insights into the residential market in Harvey Bay. So if you think about buying or selling in Harvey Bay, give Kim a call. Um, she's one of the leading agents in the country and 20 odd years of experience in real estate here in Harvey Bay, so she knows this place backward. So thanks again for tuning into Fraser Coast Property Brief. Um, don't forget to click the like and follow us. Uh, we'll have something new and exciting every week, and we'll see you next episode. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Thanks, Glenn.