Why Invest in Townsville
The Townsville Regional Scorecard Report for 2021-2022 (an independent collaboration to assess Townsville’s progress over the past decade) was recently released which highlights Townsville’s positive prospects. It brings together data from sources and key stakeholders such as James Cook University, Corelogic, Colliers and ABS. There is no secret to our bias to this city being that we continue to purchase for clients in this city, but it is nice to see credible organisations backing up our thoughts with data.
“the strong and diversified performance was above expectations”
The overall result showed Townsville performed strongly in 2021 with the report stating - “the strong and diversified performance was above expectations”. This might come as a surprise to some but not to us. There is mention of significant uplift in job creation, improving asset performance and a diversifying economy. Strong performances were noted in tourism, construction, mining, retail, agriculture and manufacturing. The report also concludes with the view that Townsville will continue to perform strongly over 2022. Some points to note in the report:
Jobs
Over 6000 jobs were added over the last 12 months
There are now officially more females employed in Townsville than males
Unemployment has dropped to 5% with forecasts to drop to 4% in 2022
Youth unemployment has more than halved in the last 5 years (7.9%) and improved 2.9% in 2021
The Business Confidence Index sustained “higher levels or positive business confidence”
Job ads increased significantly as did the variety of jobs on offer
Unemployment rate dropping
Population
Net positive increase in population to 2020
Townsville LGA remains largest city in North Australia with 196,800 residents
Townsville’s region population has grown to 238,813
The Strand - Townsville
Property
In the 12 months to November 2021 Townsville’s median house price grew 7.4%
Vacancy rates remained at 0.9% during December 2021 which is putting upwards pressure on rents due to low supply
Townsville is in the top 3 most affordable cities in Qld
Conclusion
We have been a fan of Townsville over the last few years. We believe the growth cycle started in late 2019 prior to the pandemic and we are now starting to see the positive data come through. Unlike many other rising markets in Australia, we believe this is based on the fundamentals of supply and demand. Confidence is moving back into the region via jobs and population pressure. Housing affordability and high returns are very attractive to investors. The $10 billion home insurance pool announced by the federal government is forecast to reduce insurance premiums by 10-25%. Slowly but surely the arguments against investing in North Queensland are diminishing and the leading indicators have been there for anyone that bothered to look. We obviously have a bias here (being that we purchase property for clients), but it is our firm belief Townsville is still a market where on the ground knowledge is paramount when purchasing. Please feel free to reach out for a chat.
- The Tattooed Investor