The Caboolture property market is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the areas to watch in the Moreton Bay region. Located 50 kilometres north of Brisbane CBD, it is exhibiting steady growth but remains attractively affordable to first-time homeowners and savvy investors who are taking notice of what is rapidly becoming a thriving, new urban growth centre.
With a population that has grown and doubled every decade since the seventies, Caboolture is now experiencing an influx of new families that has led to a boom in housing developments in the area.
Businesses have also been quick to contribute to the area’s urbanisation as shopping centres, homemaker centres, and other commercial establishments start occupying prime locations in the area and its surroundings, notably in nearby suburbs such as Burpengary, Bellmere, and Morayfield.
Property Market — Houses
From July 2020 to June 2021, the housing market in Caboolture exhibited a 6.30 percent increase in a busy market which showed 665 houses sold within this period.
Data from Property Market Updates showed that house listings spent an average of 51 days on the market for the first quarter. The second quarter showed faster turnover, with houses selling within almost half the time at just 23 days on market.
In the last 12 months, first-home buyers have taken advantage of Caboolture’s affordability, coupled with low-interest rates as sales reflected a median house price of $374,000. Interstate and international investors impacted by the long lockdowns in this pandemic look past traditional markets in Sydney and Melbourne to cash in on dynamic property markets in Queensland.
Photo Credit: Property Market Updates
This comes as the Queensland Government and Moreton Bay Region Council, in collaboration with developers, continue to deliver new housing developments and infrastructure, which are slowly changing this northside locale. Once the quiet suburb preferred by retirees and farmers, Caboolture is now home to many young families.
Property Market — Units
The apartment market in Caboolture has exhibited a modest but stable, upward trend as well. From July 2020 to June 2021, the market grew by 2.53 percent compared to the previous year. Unit listings stayed an average of 56 days on market with 191 properties sold.
Photo Credit: Property Market Updates
Attractive to Investors as a Rental Market
In markets like Caboolture, known as a suburb with affordable rent, investors are leveraging record-low interest rates and their ability to buy, with a view towards cashing in on the strong rental market.
Around 15% of the total houses for rent in the Moreton Bay Region is located in Caboolture. The area has 4,800 houses registered as rental properties with the Qld Residential Tenancies Authority. Rental demand is greatest for houses, followed by units, townhouses, and acreage.
Population-Driven Growth
Industry observers note that interstate migration is currently growing at its fastest rate in 18 years, pushing demand for housing up as the population grows.
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Brisbane had the highest growth rate among all of Australia’s capital cities, growing by 1.9 per cent during 2019-2020. Also, Queensland’s population is expected to grow significantly as more people come in from other states, with some sectors predicting a gain of almost 85,000 new residents in the state by mid-2025. As such, demand for property in Caboolture, still an “affordable” suburb by 2021 standards, will likely also continue to rise as people look to the outlying suburbs for housing options.
