“... Property prices in Hervey Bay are continuing to surge, defying the Queensland – wide lull in the real estate market, with population across Fraser Coast now approaching an unprecedented 4% per annum...” (Source: Fraser Coast Chronicle)
“... That’s 4000 people each year moving into the Bay...” (Source: Bill Morris, Midwood QLD investment report)
“... Hervey Bay needs 1600 to 1700 dwellings per year to accommodate just this number of people, let alone to deal with the normal turnover in property sales as the Coast faces a population boom of 80,000 next year...” (Source: The Chronicle)
“... Hervey Bay is the next big thing in Australia’s rush to the coast...” (Source: Michael Matusik)
Hervey Bay has surged back as a Sea Change contender with population growth outperforming state and national trends.
The combined region of Hervey Bay (on the coast) and Maryborough (34km inland) recorded above-average population growth of 4.6% and 4.5% per annum in the 1991 and 1996 Census headcounts. This was largely due to the attraction of Hervey Bay as a retirement haven.
Hervey Bay is also the coastal hub closest to the world’s largest sand island, the heritage-listed Fraser Island, which attracts 320,000 visitors a year.
Growth dropped to 1% in the 2001 Census but the area ranked as the fastest-growing Local Government Area in Queensland between 2001 and 2006, according to the latest Midwood Queensland Investment Report. While Hervey Bay ranked ninth in terms of actual numbers, with 2,485 people moving there in 2005-06, this was a growth rate averaging 4.8% per annum from 2001 to 2006.
The Midwood Report estimates the area population at 85,000 as at May 2007 and is projecting growth to continue for the next decade or so. Maryborough, the region’s service and employment centre, is 34 km from Hervey Bay, which is a tourism hub with Urangan harbour servicing ferry connections to Fraser Island.
Developers have their sights set on Hervey Bay and Urangan, with two of Queensland’s best-known resort developers – Seymour Group and Meridien – have battled it out for the State government tender to redevelop the Urangan Boat Harbour as a resort marina.
Hervey Bay is also one of the key locations for bulky goods and homewares retailers looking to establish new outlets in fast-growing areas.
The median house price in the Hervey Bay Local Government Area grew by 147.5% in the five years to June 2006, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
The Midwood Report says the scheme has constrained the development potential of up to 7,000 lots (including 1,300 lots in Urangan), which previously held rights to develop medium-density property up to six levels.
The new town plan provides for medium density development around nodes at Pialba, Torquay and Urangan with four distinct zones created with densities limited to two to three levels in the medium density zone along the Esplanade, six to eight levels in the Pialba business zone and up to six levels or 20m at Urangan. The rest of the city will be limited to two levels.
Hervey Bay dwelling approvals, which had surged through 2003-2006, dropped sharply in the March 2007 quarter, with unit development down 49%. This flows through to a restriction on supply in the future, which is expected to be good for capital growth .
Statistics
The following links provide a variety of statistical information about Hervey Bay.
