Ipswich’s property market spans everything from SUBURBAN COMFORT to IDYLLIC ACREAGE. Five agents give us their inside word on the hot suburbs to buy and sell.
Dalase Shilling from Raine & Horne Ipswich says:
“Leichhardt is not only a place of community pride and well known for its sporting facilities but for a long time has been a haven for investors. Recently I have noticed a positive shift in prices but what is exciting right now is we are attracting first home buyers, in addition to what are already owner occupancy statistics.
Leichhardt is going crackers at the moment. Where else can you buy a quality home under $260,000 less than 10 minutes from the CBD. And you have the West Ipswich corridor right now that is making it very attractive. When you have Puma, Zarraffas, Bunnings and big names like that it fills me with confidence. I put a property on the market for under $250,000 and due to a serious lack of properties for sale at the moment I have been inundated with enquiries. One question that keeps coming up is about flooding and for the most part Leichhardt is flood free.”
Diann Platt from Switch Realty says:
“Newtown is my absolute favourite. Houses there sell exceptionally fast. It is a small suburb, most streets are beautiful, with beautiful trees. Everyone is going in there and doing the houses up. And it’s the location – you have the new shopping centre on Grange Road, schools, Big W, close to town, the railway station – you are very central.
There are a lot of Queenslanders, and cute cottages, many beautiful character homes and big blocks that can be subdivided. Brisbane people seem to know about that little secret, I have people just waiting for a house in Newtown that they can grab and renovate. There is still money to be made with a quality renovation in Ipswich, it’s no longer just paint it and put it on the market, you need to bring out the features of the property. People want the French doors, the breezeways. The prices have risen in Newtown, at the moment there is not a lot of stock on the market.”
Jon Appleyard from PFS Real Estate says:
“Walloon is central to facilities like Ipswich only 12 minutes drive, Rosewood five minutes drive, and both the Cunningham and Warrego highways only short distances. The area has a great mix of property from small vacant lots to acreage, others with homes and large farm properties. The area has access to local schools feeding to high schools, with rail and bus transportation nearby.
We have a number of owner occupier and rental investment properties especially with RAAF Base Amberley only a few minutes away. I see the future to be expanding with our population to grow in both markets, especially with the opportunity for people to get into the market by moving into Waterlea Estate on a small block. Then if they wish to go to acreage they can possibly purchase in our area and keep the stability of family life for their children going to the same school and sporting facilities as well as having their new dream commence.”
Sonia Woolley from Vision Property says:
“Every second phone call is from a Sydney investor wanting a property they can value add to, such as build a granny flat or sub divide. That’s what we specialise in – looking at a property and seeing its best and highest use either for a homeowner or an investor. Our building division, Ipswich Granny Flats is a part of Vision Property Group (Qld).
We’ve now built quite a few granny flats in Basin Pocket which is a bit of a surprise as there are some areas there that have some flooding issues. We’ve also completed a few granny flats in Booval and Eastern Heights. But it’s Basin Pocket that seems to be the place at the moment; it’s really flat land, generally larger blocks with a good wide street frontage and easy access down the side of the house to the backyard and it’s affordable. All those things make it very attractive to interstate investors.”
David Luscombe from Freedom Property says:
“Brassall – It’s got everything, the river with a canoe launch ramp, great shopping, easy access onto the highway and very good schools in and around Brassall. There are lots of bike riding paths, and you can get right up to Esk if you are up for a long ride on the (Brisbane Valley) Rail Trail. There is a mix of buyers at the moment, of owner occupiers and investors. House prices go from $260,000 up to $700,000. I’d say there has been price growth of at least 10 per cent in the past year, just people wanting a beautiful place to live with all the convenience.”
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