When Brisbane couple Rosie Dodgson and Matthew Scott were looking for an affordable house to buy before starting a family, the Capricorn Coast seemed like the perfect option.
Key points:Livingstone Shire’s property values increased 7.3 per cent in the year to April 2023A local real estate agent says the Capricorn Coast is still in the boom phase, despite interest rate hikesA demographer says migration to coastal towns is influenced by people seeking lifestyle changes
“We would never be able to purchase our first home [in Brisbane] considering the cost of it, and also the competition,” Ms Dodgson said.
The couple is now settled in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon and “couldn’t be happier”.
“It’s a good size for us, it’s not really busy but it’s not a ghost town,” Ms Dodgson said.
They are part of a growing population looking for a sea change in a place where they can also afford to get on the property ladder, according to demographer Elin Charles-Edwards from the University of Queensland.
Dr Charles-Edwards said coastal regions across Queensland were seeing a “spillover effect” of people locked out of markets on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts.
The town of Yeppoon on the Capricorn Coast is growing rapidly.(Supplied: Madelyn Holmes)
“During COVID we saw a lot of people stay in the regions and also increasingly people attracted to the regional lifestyle, either looking for more space, cheaper housing, and in part facilitated by working from home,” she said.
‘Still in the boom’
Ms Dodgson said the Capricorn Coast was “perfect” for their young family, with a property market where they could afford a three-bedroom house with a large garden.
But it seemed others had the same idea. It took more than a year of the pair putting in offers before they snapped up their home in late 2021.
“There was pretty fierce competition up here,” Ms Dodgson said.
Yeppoon real estate agent