You ever been to Mackay seismic? There is nothing touristy here.
This is my take on Mackay having lived here for 31years.
The mines have not gone bust. The 2x ports here are pumping coal into ships at full capacity, meaning they are getting A LOT of coal. BMA (BHP/Mitsubishi Alliance) are still pulling a lot of coal out of the ground. Then you have Peabody, Glencore, Anglo and Rio all still operating reasonably efficiently.
The construction has basically stopped, and the production/maintenance part of the cycle is now here. Whilst the jobs that once were here are now gone, there is still plenty of mantenance to do, and those not caught up in the 'it will only keep going up' will keep operating.
Personally, my business is really, really busy. Im running night shifts and weekends to keep up. I can count on one hand the amount of days in 2015 so far I havent had blokes working, or had not go into work myself. To put things into perspective, we are currently working on 2 drill rigs fully overhauled (deadlines for completion are 31/3 and 30/6), and this contractor already has exploratory work lined up for them. To me that doesnt spell gloom - it smells there is still opportunity there.
As for property, there is no denying that there is a lot of vacant houses, and lots of land on the market. Everything happened just 5years behind in both movements of the boom (the run up to the GFC), and the 2011-2013 period. July 2013.....splat! The council here needs to lock up the land to drive filling the gaps. Problem is the council here is so broke, that they want to take anything that is rateable to increase income!
My view in years to come it will head back to the midway between boom/bust....where everything just floats along, nothing more, nothing less for a full cycle (15-20years).
I cant see a collapse in prices from here. Things are at a more 'valueable' price. High end hit the hardest, but there are small opportunities to pick up something if you can keep someone on here.
pinkboy
