The month in review: Toowoomba
By Herron Todd White
December, 2009
Generally, our prediction for 2009 was correct, although
at the time of writing we were seeing over anxious sellers
selling property below market value, which prompted
many pessimists and analysts to say “the market is
falling”.
Our number one prediction for a general increase in
growth within the region was our Affordability. We
said that “the affordability of our housing in comparison
with other cities should attract both owner occupiers and
investors to Toowoomba. This would be exacerbated by the
limited amount of rentals available, which at (were) present
are (were) very low and would only get lower as University
students entered back into the market”. This generally
summed up what happened with additional catalysts for
our prosperity including spin offs from the mining and
agriculture sectors and suppressed fuel prices.
As predicted, the eastern suburbs experienced the best
growth being in close proximity to services such as
schooling, parks and shopping. However, the western
suburbs did exceed our expectations, as we predicted
these areas may “have reduced volumes of sales, possibly
resulting with reduced value,” but correctly predicted
that this “would be softened by the positive impact of the
1st home buyers grant and the general affordability of
housing.”
Our main deterrents for growth (as predicted) “appeared
to be the lack of a domestic/commercial airline, water
availability and dam levels inhibiting water usage”, which
is still the case.
Smaller projects such as the widening of intersections
along Ruthven Street were injections to the local economy
with our biggest loss being a start date for the second
range crossing and the extension of the airport runway.
All in all, it was predicted that the Toowoomba market,
including Highfields, would certainly hold in comparison
with other cities and regional towns (and in fact some
suburbs showed exceptional growth).
With the exception of the closure of KR Darling Downs,
unemployment percentages have generally levelled off
during the year. Generally, our prosperity came from
the work available in our agricultural, mining, energy,
construction and commerce sectors which maintained
household income and resulted with an overall positive
outcome.
|
