Question 1

Is Mackay a nice place to live?

Accepted Answer

Mackay is a coastal regional city on the Pioneer River. It has a busy riverside centre, riverfront walking paths, a botanical garden and a port and marina.

The community includes many renters and incomes below the Queensland median, with couple families without children making up 43.2% of families. The CBD has weekend markets, cafés and a compact retail precinct, while schools, sporting fields and healthcare services are concentrated around the city core, and riverfront parkland, walking paths and water features provide everyday recreation. A Mackay Base Hospital expansion masterplan has been released and construction is scheduled to start.

Question 2

Is it expensive to live in Mackay?

Accepted Answer

A typical local household in Mackay earned about $1,239 a week at the last Census. On the figures, renting a house at $530 a week would take about 43% of that weekly income, and renting a unit at $520 a week would take about 42% — both represent a large share of a typical local household's income. If you are renting rather than buying, those rent shares are the most immediate affordability measure.

Buying sits noticeably above local incomes. A median house price of $502,500 is about 7.8 times a typical local annual household income, and a median unit price of $400,000 is about 6.2 times annual income, which places both well above local incomes. Whether that feels expensive depends on your own income and circumstances.

Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's important to consider your own circumstances when deciding which suburb is right for you.

Question 3

Is Mackay a good place to invest?

Accepted Answer

Mackay's property values showed strong gains over the past 12 months, with median house values up 18.3% and median unit values up 18.2%.

Rents moved differently for each property type: house rents rose a solid 6.0%, so for houses capital growth outpaced rental income, while unit rents climbed a strong 15.6%, much closer to the unit value increase.

This information has been prepared without taking your objectives, needs and overall financial situation into account. It is not meant to be a substitute for professional financial advice. For this reason, you should consider the appropriateness of the information and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.

	Houses	Units
Median price Past 3 months	$503K	$400K
Change in value Past 12 months	18.3%	18.2%
Sold Past 3 months	14	21
Median days on market Past 12 months	29	20
Average rent Past 12 months	$530	$520
Change in rent Past 12 months	6.0%	15.6%

	Suburb	QLD
Median age years	38	38
Median household income weekly	$1,239	$1,675
Couples with children share of families	29.0%	41.2%
Couples without children share of families	43.2%	40.3%
One-parent families share of families	23.0%	16.8%
Homes owned outright share of homes	17.0%	30.1%
Homes with a mortgage share of homes	15.2%	35.6%
Homes rented share of homes	67.8%	34.3%

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