These are the top five population growth hot spots in Queensland, according to a new report
Date：2017/05/25
Elizabeth Tilley
23 MAY 2017
[Michael Matusik] NORTH Lakes has topped the list of population growth hot spots in Queensland, according to a new report.
The booming suburb on Brisbane’s northern fringe gained another 2216 residents in the 2016 financial year — bringing its population to 30,772, according to research by Michael Matusik, director of independent property advisory Matusik Property Insights.
North Lakes also saw the highest number of house sales in the Brisbane region during the year to February 2017, with 446 houses changing hands, according to property data firm Corelogic.
The suburb is 28km from the CBD and has a median house price of $479,500 — up 4.2 per cent from a year ago and 9 per cent higher than three years ago.
Along with North Lakes, the five Queensland suburbs which experienced the most population growth in FY 2016 are Pimpama and Coomera on the Gold Coast, Dakabin/Kallangur in Brisbane and Deeragun in Townsville, according to the report.
Mr Matusik said he wasn’t surprised North Lakes had topped the list.
“It’s simply that it’s a very large parcel of land,” he said. “The developer has a masterplanned estate which they make sure is run like a business. Every year they make sure there is enough supply to cater for the market.”
He said the suburb was appealing to many people because of the infrastructure it now had, such as a Westfield shopping centre, a train station, and the likes of Costco and Ikea.
“It’s got those things that come with growth and further that growth.”
Mr Matusik said Pimpama’s population was growing at a rate he didn’t believe was sustainable.
“It’s a reflection of where land supply is on the Gold Coast at the moment and I think that will calm down,” he said.
“But if the Gold Coast is going to continue expanding, those areas will become more like North Lakes in due course.”
Kallangur’s growth was a reflection of a change in council policy, allowing more townhouses and apartments to be built in the suburb, as well as new infrastructure, Mr Matusik said.
But Deeragun in Townsville was a surprise.
“I didn’t expect to see that,” he said. “It’s just that’s where new development has been pushed.
“It just shows places like Townsville aren’t necessarily dead — they’re just slower than they used to be.”
The Matusik population growth and forecast report is based on figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, state and territory government population projections and the Matusik database.
It comes as new research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre reveals increases in housing stock in Brisbane has been insufficient to match the city’s population growth.
But the report found monthly unit approvals surged ahead in Brisbane between 2006 and 2014, which supports current apartment oversupply concerns
The report also found all capital cities are failing to provide enough affordable options to manage the country’s housing crisis.
Mr Matusik argues the areas seeing the most population growth have enough housing supply.
“There is plenty of supply in every location but I could argue it’s the wrong supply,” he said.
“The supply question always comes down to; ‘Is it the right product? Does it suit the demographics? Is it affordable to those demographics? And the answer is usually no.”
Mr Matusik said his research found most population growth continued to take place in or within proximity to capital cities, and within those cities, most of the growth was in the outer suburbs.
The growth spots in the greater Brisbane region include Ipswich, Moreton Bay and Logan.
And while most urban areas are growing at a slower rate than they have in the past, the exception in Queensland is the Gold Coast, according to the report.
Outside of the capital cities, the top ten population growth nodes in the country include four Queensland regions — Gold Coast/Tweed, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Mackay.
TOP FIVE QLD POPULATION GROWTH HOT SPOTS
Suburb Region Population FY 2016 Growth FY 2016
1. North Lakes/Mango Hill Brisbane North 30,772 2,216
2. Pimpama Gold Coast 8161 2120
3. Dakabin/Kallangur Brisbane North 25,956 1410
4. Coomera Gold Coast 13324 1348
5. Deeragun Townsville 23,088 1311