Kingaroy QLD?

I see its listed in the hottest 100 investment areas this year, had a brief look on rea.com and am interested because the median price is within my budget.

The thing is, I've never been to Kingaroy and really don't have any idea about the place.

Can anyone shed any light? Are there any areas to steer clear of? Are rental vacancy rates tight? Is there a shortage of stock? Whats the general "feel" of the place? etc

Thank you.
 
I like the area. Red soil, peanut farmers, country town with all facilities, a main mall in town, still an easy drive into Brisbane (2ish hrs) if you need the city/airport etc for anything.

I considered investing there a few years back but was mainly after a town with 20,000 population. I think Kingaroy is about 12,000. However we just recently visited Kingaroy and I would consider it again with research. There are some nice suburbs with tidy brick renters. I think it's a big enough town to sustain growth into the future.
 
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Thanks Delilah, I just spoke with an agent (was the selling agent on the property I'm enquiring on though..) and a property manager.
They seem quite confident that the area will do o.k, although the PM was saying it's more a transient town, with police and medical workers staying for 12 months and leaving?

And whats with the water tanks, have they even got tap water?
 
Yeah there is town water but I'd say many have tanks for gardens as it's so dry out that way. Lots of the houses on the outskirts of town and on small acerage would have tanks as drinking water supply.

Keep us updated.
 
Speaking of water in Kingaroy.
I used to live in Nanango and worked at the Kingaroy Woolies in the mall a few years back.
I remember the town water in Kingaroy was not the best to drink... and as for Nanango town water, even washing your cloths in it used to be risky... never knew if it was going to come out brown!

That is why everyone has rain water tanks, much better for drinking and really for everything!.
 
Hmmm interesting. Can anyone back up those water claims?
I find it almost hard to believe that the tap water isn't really drinkable.
(not having a go at all, just saying)

I'm Iooking in to an executive residence, is there demand for this type of dwelling? The PM tells me there is but you know how reliable that can be sometimes.
 
Kingaroy

Hi everyone ... I live here, so here goes ...

Yes, the reticulated water supply can taste awful at times because it is very hard. But it is treated and totally safe to drink. Just let it stand in the fridge a bit.

All new homes have rainwater tanks ... but I believe that is required by law, anyway.

Kingaroy is growing phenomenally. Whether this is sustainable in the long term is your call. But we do have a coal mine (although the Kunioon development probably won't go ahead for a few years now) and power station. Note, the Power Station is not a very large employer. The largest employer is Swickers Kingaroy Bacon Factory (a pork abattoir). This obviously depends on the state of this industry, so buy your Christmas hams now (and check which country they came from)!

We have a Maccas, KFC, Red Rooster, Dominoes, Eagle Boys, Aussie Pizzas, Retravision, Betta Electrical, Crazy Prices, Dollar Discounts, Best & Less, SupaIGA, Aldi (soon), Woolworths, Big W, Lowes etc etc and yes, quite a few traffic lights and roundabouts.

The supposed best properties are up on the hill but there are no real "bad" parts of town. The flatter land is colder in winter, though!

We are in the middle of a home building boom and I've been told that developers can't get new homes up quick enough.

Hope this helps ....
 
Thanks Kingaroy.

Just looking on rea.com there are so many houses for sale, and none under contract. This is quite worrying for such a small town.
 
Investor

All the reasonably priced homes are snapped up almost immediately.

I just met a guy and his wife the other day who bought in Kingaroy 2 years ago. He has just moved from Emerald to the property this week. He is here to set up a new mine at Chinchilla. That surprised me that he chose to live in Kingaroy and not closer to Chinchilla.

So maybe the 1000 jobs which is advertised on lots of billboards here actually relates to a much wider area and could in fact be true.

Kinga
 
I was at Kingaroy last weekend to paint a house,
It took some doing just getting accommodation.
I had a conversation with the Motel owner who said most rooms in the town were booked out during the week,with vacancies on weekends only.
When I questioned her some more I was told that there were a lot of workers from the Torong power station staying the week days and going home on the weekends.
Also workers from the gas pipelines:confused:

At a glance I didn't really like the place as it is very spread out.
But It did cross my mind as a potential place for a rental:D

There are a few new houses being built there as we speak?
 
Well thanks for all your replies, I appreciate them.

I've just spoken with an indipendant agent from Kingaroy to see what he had to say about the area.

Here are some points worth noting

1/ He sees no reason for prices to do anything in the next few years.
2/ It's currently a buyers market, and that was confirmed to me by another agent trying to offer a property well below asking price
3/ The "hot 100" spruike is just that, a spruike. There have been many spruikers preying on interstate investors to dangerously park their money in Kingaroy
4/ There are too many homes on the market and are hard to sell.
5/ There are a few plans for the future's industry growth but he doesn't think any will go ahead and says it's pure speculation to invest in Kingaroy at the moment.

That being said I won't be buying there.
 
I have recently purchased an IP in Kingaroy and am very happy with it. Below is my opinion of the town.

Kingaroy has a long term average growth of 11.34% and has achieved 10% in the past year. (Refer http://www.investsmart.com.au/property-research/QLD/4610/Kingaroy.asp)

Rental yield is in excess of 5% and the town has a low vacancy rate. (I can attest to this based on my IP)

The property I recently purchased, financed at 100%, was cashflow neutral from day one. I also had a tenant sign the rental agreement on the day of settlement. Maybe I was lucky, maybe not, but either way my Kingaroy acquisition has worked out really well for me - I pay nothing to hold it and should receive 10% growth.

It's also important to note Terry Ryder has Kingaroy included in the top 10 places to buy in Queensland, and the top 10 'cheapie' suburbs to buy in Australia. I wouldn't consider Terry Ryder a property spruiker.

The way I look at it is the Kingaroy market has been performing well long term with average growth of 11%, last 12 months growth at 10%, and a yield greater than 5%, all this without any significant events triggering this. All the market has to do is stay 'business as usual' and this is a reasonable return. If initiatives such as the new mine, the 1.2 billion dollar wind farm, the coal seam gas exploration, an improved mining sector, etc, etc, then we could be looking at great growth in the future. The town is ideally situated to benefit from renewable energy initiatives which the government is beginning to fund.

Also if you consider the companies who have recently opened shops in Kinaroy: Harvey Norman, Mitre 10 (the size of a Bunnings!), Super IGA, Aldi, etc. These types of companies do not just startup anywhere - they do a lot of research to ensure consistent growth before investing millions of dollars.

I can go on and on with info about Kingaroy as I did a significant amount of research... but won't bore you unless anyone is interested.

2/ It's currently a buyers market, and that was confirmed to me by another agent trying to offer a property well below asking price

Isn't this a good time to buy? I do find it interesting that often people buy when a market is hot (i.e. at the top of the market) and often sells when the market is quiet (i.e. the bottom of the market). This is not a smart way to invest if you are seeking growth.
 
I'm trying to feel more confident in the area but after speaking to yet another property manager I don't really feel any better about investing in the area.

This one said that things are really slow at the moment and they have 14 vacant houses on the roll and 3 units

I asked if I could be confident at renting a house out within 4 weeks (settlement) and they said they can't be too confident. Things "might" pick up next year.
 
I grew up in Kingaroy and still have parents that live there, so still have some contact with what is happening in town.

Population in town when i was going to high school was about 8000 people, then when i returned to work there in 2000, town population was still around 8000...maybe 9000. I think town population is still the same (not accounting for those staying in hotel rooms - transient workers).

But there has been an absolute explosion in the number of houses, particularly over the top of "Hospital Hill", up Fisher Street and north of Moore Street.

I also read about Capital K (Kingaroy) being in the hot 100 and on Terry Ryder's list so was curious when I went back to visit about a month ago. I am not sure of the dwelling numbers but there would be a significant increase in both houses and units. I guess this info could be obtained from the South Burnett Regional Council, and compare the no. of dwellings to the town (not shire) population.

Whilst prices there are reasonable, compared to larger centres, i am concerned about the number of houses there to people.

OSS
 
Thanks Skater.

I too feel the same way and it's good to have your knowledge of the area.

It seems there is an over-supply of dwellings (especially houses) for the small population to soak up in a hurry, and the only way things will change is if these big projects do in fact come to fruition, which is why these dwellings were erected in the first place. Not good for investment purposes unfortunately, and I'm a little dissapointed because I've been able to negotiate a really good price on a brand new 3 bedder, and it looks great!
But as they say, you should never by with your heart.

I would feel more than comfortable if supply and demand were in the investors favour but I can't see this happening in the immediate future at all.

What happens if you can't tenant the place and then in turn, can't sell the place because there are so many on the market? Thats not good for anyone.
 
Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. It's such a busy time of year.

Keep in mind it's a good time to buy!!

Okay below are some facts and figures for Kingaroy. Hope this helps.

  • Kingaroy is the main municipal town for the shire of South Burnett. I see this as a positive.
  • Population of approx. 8000.
  • Local area population of 13,000.
  • Population growth rate has been 1.3%. Forecasted population growth (according to council) is consistent with QLD's forecasted growth rate. (sorry I can't find the details with the exact figures but remember it was the same as the rest of QLD)
  • Vacancy rate is below 2% (SQM Research)
  • Long term growth rate has been in excess of 10% (APM)
  • Yield of in excess of 5%.
Becoming the retail centre for the South Burnett Shire (hence the likes of Harvey Norman and Mitre 10 recently opening).

Emerging tourism / wine region.

Green energy potential with Cougar Energy's UCG plant and the 1.2B Coopers Gap Wind Farm.

Mining potential with the Kunion mine, although I don't believe this will happy for a few years, but I do believe it has to happen at some point as they are running out of coal and have already started the process of reclaiming land (which has obviously been contentious).

No real bad areas in town. Although be careful of the areas with black sand, especially if the property is a brick and tile house as the soil may shift and damage the property. Minor risk but something to be aware of.

Proximity to Brisbane and the coast is excellent - less than 3hr drive which means day trips or attending meetings in Brisbane are possible.

Major employers are Hans Smallgoods Abbatour, Tarong power station and coal mine, Kinngaroy Regional Council, Peanut Company, Bean Growers of Australia, Kingaroy Hospital. Note the diversity and the fact there is no reliance on a single industry or employer which reduces risk.

The town has all the required facilities such as schools (at least 4), 30 man police station, hospital, ambulance unit, all the major banks, most of the major shops such as Big W, Woolworths, Super IGA, Aldi (building), McDonals, KFC, Subway, Red Rooster, etc, etc, also sporting facilities such as public swimming pool, 10 pin bowling, golf coarse, etc, etc.

There are some big blocks and it's not particularly difficult to find properties with development potential. I picked up a half acre block in town with ResB zoning. A property on the same street has submitted a DA to build 15 townhouses on an acre block.

As said above, I see this as a relatively safe investment with good returns and good growth, with the potential for great growth when some of these initiatives kick off.

Now obviously there are negatives... I have been told that there is plenty of land in Kingaroy. Not sure how to go about verifying this (i.e. when I look at a map of Port Headland there seems to be plenty of land but obviously that is not the case there - any insight into this would be appreciated!). The way I look at this is this has always been the case and property has been performing well at 11% long term - so while the town keeps plodding along with business as usual I should see some good growth.

There does seem to be a fair amount of stock on the market at the moment, but that hasn't seemed to affect the housing prices (well they haven't gone into negative territory). The good thing is though, find out which properties have been on the market for a long time and use this to negotiate.

Cheers,
JJ.
 
I should point out I don't think the sqmresearch reported vacancy rate of 2% is quite correct (seems to low), but with that said I did have mine rented on the day of settlement.

Investor2009 - recommend you have a chat with Freeman Estates. I had spoken to a few of the agents and they were by far the most professional.
 
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