Coast has second highest land prices
THE Housing Industry Association/RP Data residential land report has found the Sunshine Coast to be the second-most-expensive regional market with the median land prices at $235,000.
Richmond-Tweed in NSW topped the list with $240,000 and the Gold Coast came in third with $231,500.
The SEQ Council of Mayors' new affordability calculator has also revealed it costs twice as much to live in the Noosa area, than other suburbs on the Coast.
The average cost of living in Noosa Heads is $357 more per week than the average household in the local government area, compared to $154 in Buderim, $42 in Caloundra and $47 in Maroochydore.
Nambour's average is about $132 less than the local average.
SEQ Council of Mayors chairman Graham Quirk and the Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Small Business Brendan O'Connor unveiled the myhomemysuburb.com.au website, which calculated the true financial cost of housing choice.
The SEQ affordability calculator combines the costs of housing, and travelling to and from work, schools, shops, services and other facilities, and generates an index.
A score of 100 equals the average real housing costs in south-east Queensland, a score higher than 100 indicates higher-than-average real housing costs and a score below 100 indicates a lower-than-average cost.
"This is about busting the myth that you always get a better deal by moving to the city outskirts and commuting long distances," Cr Quirk said.
"Urban sprawl without the employment, services and public transport to match is no longer sustainable and is having adverse impacts on traffic congestion and our local economies in general, not to mention the household budget.
"South-East Queensland is expected to need another 754,000 new dwellings to meet demand over the next 20 years, which is why we now need to look towards more compact cities that promote higher densities around key economic hubs and transport corridors.
"The myhomemysuburb website will help home homebuyers calculate the trade-off between the type of home they want versus the suburb they want by taking into account the day-to-day costs."
Buderim
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index: 104.3
- Average unit price: $369,500
- Average house price: $515,500
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $260
- Average cost of housing choice: $931
- About $154 more than average household in Local Government Area
Caloundra
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index 92.1
- Average unit price: $380,000
- Average house price: $470,000
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $208
- Average cost of housing choice: $819
- About $42 more than average household in Local Government Area
Landsborough
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index: 88.7
- Average unit price: $300,000
- Average house price: $385,000
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $302
- Average cost of housing choice: $803
- About $27 more than average household in Local Government Area
Maleny
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index: 95.5
- Average unit price: $331,000
- Average house price: $448,000
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $275
- Average cost of housing choice: $858
- About $81 more than average household in Local Government Area
Maroochydore
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index: 92.6
- Average unit price: $340,000
- Average house price: $472,500
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $209
- Average cost of housing choice: $824
- About $47 more than average household in Local Government Area
Nambour
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index: 71.6
- Average unit price: $254,000
- Average house price: $332,000
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $212
- Average cost of housing choice: $644
- About $132 less than average household in Local Government Area
Noosa Heads
SEQ Affordability Calculator Index: 128.3
- Average unit price: $559,500
- Average house price: $692,500
- Average weekly travel and time costs: $232
- Average cost of housing choice: $1133
- About $357 more than average household in Local Government Area
SEQ AFFORDABILITY CALCULATOR
- The SEQ Affordability Calculator works on the equation of Total Housing Cost = Dwelling Price + Travel Costs + Time Costs.
- Dwelling prices are based on median suburb prices in 2011.
- Average travel costs include vehicle purchases, fuels and lubricants, registration and insurance, vehicle accessories, other charges, public transport fares and other transport costs.
- The 'time cost' of travel represents the time spent travelling and includes the estimated time spent travelling to work, shops, schools and general recreation.
- The proportion of a household's time spent travelling for various trip types varies depending upon the number of works, location of work, number of children, car-ownership and access to various retail, community and recreational facilities.
