Mining darling Moranbah tops list of regional Queensland towns where it is cheaper to buy than rent: RP Data
By Larry Schlesinger
Friday, 07 September 2012
Moranbah, the Queensland coal mining town and investor darling, leads a regional Queensland list compiled by RP Data of suburbs where it is cheaper to buy a house than to rent one.
RP Data estimates that it $4,021 cheaper per month to buy a house in Moranbah with a principal and interest variable mortgage than rent one.
The median asking rent for a house in Moranbah is $1,900 a week, according to RP Data.
The Moranbah council area has a population of around 22,000 permanent residents but a fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) worker population of 24,000, with a government inquiry into the sustainability of mining towns in April hearing that FIFO workers have been a key factor in driving up rents.
However, in April this year there were reports that rents and prices in Moranbah were falling due to mining companies – which take up many of the residential leases on behalf of workers – refusing to sign new leases.
At the time of the mining flare-up Terry Ryder of hotspotting.com.au said the situation highlighted the danger of investing in a mining town, where prices are “a bit artificial”.
“A single major employer can use its market power to achieve something such as forcing down rents,” Ryder told Australian Property Investormagazine.“A lot of investors have been getting very excited about Moranbah. This is a classic example, which may inject a bit of reality into the situation.”
Westpac recently tightened its lending requirements for mortgages to buy property in "single-industry" towns like Moranbah.
Current listings that Property Observer estimates would be significantly cheaper to buy then rent include this four-bedroom, two-storey house on a large block on Mills Avenue (pictured below) being sold by Mackay agent Julie Williamson with an asking price of $750,000.
The property has a two-year lease in place at $1,800 per week, or $8,100 per month.
Providing a 10% deposit and borrowing $675,000 on a 25-year principal and interest loan with a 6.25% interest rate would mean monthly mortgage repayments of around $4,500 per month.
Another example of a property that is cheaper to buy then rent is this two-level, four-bedroom house on Bradman Street (pictured below), being sold by Craig Aitcheson & Roz Robinson from LJ Hooker Mackay with a price tagof $549,000 and with the possibility for development at the back of the property, subject to council approval.
The property is expected to command rent of at least $900 per week, or $4,050 per month.
Providing a 10% deposit and borrowing $494,000 on a 25-year principal and interest loan with a 6.25% interest rate would mean monthly mortgage repayments of around $3,300 per month.
Yet another example is 8 Goolagong Crescent (pictured below), also a four-bedroom, two-level house being sold by Marie Plahn of Moranbah Real Estate, where the price has been reduced by $100,000 to a negotiable $690,000.
Plahn says the property can command weekly rent of $1,200 per week or $5,400 per month.
Providing a 10% deposit and borrowing $621,000 on a 25-year principal and interest loan on a 6.25% rate would mean monthly mortgage repayments of around $4,100 per month.
To come up with its calculations RP Data compared the cost of a mortgage vs the cost of renting in four different ways: 1, Principal and interest loan on a variable mortgage rate; 2. Interest-only loan on a variable mortgage rate; 3. Principal and interest loan on a three-year fixed mortgage rate; and 4. Interest-only loan on a three year fixed mortgage rate.
The data contains both units and houses, but in most suburbs on the list it is cheaper to rent a unit than buy one.
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Subject: Why list online? & August update on residential listings article
Information For Clients, Friends & Associates of LJ Gilland Real Estate Pty Ltd as follows:-
Please keep a look out for our website translated to Chinese.
Online residential listings rise 1.5% in August to 373,510, led by Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra
By Jonathan Chancellor
Wednesday, 05 September 2012
Vendors appear hopeful of better fortunes this spring selling season with the total number of residential properties listed for sale online rising 1.5% over August to reach 373,510, according to figures from SQM Research.
This contrasts starkly with the same time last year, when listings fell 3.8% from 377,213 in July 2011 to 362,740 in August 2011.
Sydney and Melbourne both recorded “substantial” 5.9% increases in monthly residential properties listed for sale, to reach 31,310 and 51,194 listings respectively.
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SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher described market conditions as a little better than this time last year, "but it doesn't mean we are going to head into a big property boom''.
"If rates stay on hold, that will be conducive to stimulating the housing market, and we are likely to see continued market recovery, but there are many X-factors at play,'' he told news.com.au.
Christopher says rising rents (up 7% annually over the past five years) are good news for investors, but they have been offset by declining house prices.
He expects there will be further seasonal rises in stock levels as the spring selling season enters full swing.
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While residential stock on market in Sydney is just 0.9% higher than a year ago at 31,310, Melbourne has the highest year-on-year increase of all the mainland capital cities, with stock up 14.1% to 51,194 in August.
In August last year there were 44,859 properties listed for sale in Melbourne.
The other notable increase was Canberra, where stock on market increased by 8.8% over the month to 3,758 online listings. This is up 13.6% up on August 2011.
“Canberra’s large monthly increase may well signify a downturn for that market as federal budget spending is cut,” noted SQM research.
Bucking the monthly trend of rising stock levels was Perth, which recorded the largest monthly decline of 1.8% to 18,053. Residential listings were down 10.7% on the same time last year when there 20,207 listings.
Residential stock levels have declined in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane – which all benefit from Australia's mining boom
Darwin residential listings are down 23.3% over the 12 months to August to 1,282 while Brisbane listings are down 4.7% to 28,666.
“Increasingly the market is segmented. It is becoming difficult to discuss just one national housing market and in my opinion, that will be to base line story for the remainder of 2012,” said Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research.
While Hobart stock on market declined by 1.7% over August to 4,388 properties listed for sale, there are 24.1% more properties for sale than a year ago. At this time last year there were 3,536 listed for sale in Hobart.
Have you seen the new video explaining advertising options on realestate.com.au? It could be a great listing tool to use in your presentations?
http://sellingguide.realestate.com.au/video/why-list-online
Also, here is the link to the Selling Guide website specifically set up for our sellers.
http://sellingguide.realestate.com.au/
Have a great week!
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Linda & Carlos Debello
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http://gillandrealestate.wordpress.com/
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