TOP 10 & HOTSPOTS 2014-15 57

Moreton Bay Region" QLD (50km north of Brisbane CBD)"

Key Influences" Ugly Ducklings, Government Policy, Transport Infrastructure, Ripple Effect.

Highlights" Affordable housing; road and rail links to Brisbane and to the Sunshine Coast; Morayfield ranked No. 2 in Australia for “family liveability”; proposed Principal Regional Activity Centre and new town plan.

Typical houses" $310,000 Caboolture, $321,000 Morayfield, $381,000 Burpengary, $293,000 Deception Bay.

Typical units" $262,000 Caboolture.

A quick glance at the sales volumes in the suburbs of the Moreton Region shows how important affordability is in residential real estate. Four of the core suburbs of this region have each sold over 300 houses in the past 12 months. Three of the four have median house prices below $330,000.

The Region, which encompasses the Brisbane metropolitan area’s urban sprawl in the northern growth corridor heading towards the Sunshine Coast, offers affordable housing as well as good rail and roads links to Brisbane to the south, and the Sunshine Coast and beyond to the north.

With a new town plan in prospect, including the new suburb of Caboolture West, the Caboolture- Morayfield area is destined to continue absorbing urban sprawl.

This region has been identified by the State Government as a Principal Regional Activity Centre for major growth.

The proposed Caboolture West Master Plan covers 6,500ha west of Caboolture and Morayfield and extends north beyond Wamuran.

Location

The Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC) came into being through the amalgamation of the , Caboolture Shire and Pine Rivers Shire in 2008.

Caboolture, which is located in the centre of the region, is 50km north of the Brisbane CBD.

While the region covers over 2,000km², this report focuses on two of the 12 Divisions which make up the Council. These are Divisions 2 and 3, including Beachmere, Burpengary, Deception Bay, Narangba, Caboolture, Upper Caboolture, Caboolture South, Bellmere and Morayfield.

(NOTE: The suburbs of the , which also form part of the , is covered in a separate Location Report published by hotspotting.com.au). 58 TOP 10 BRISBANE & QUEENSLAND HOTSPOTS 2014-15

Population and demographics

According to the ABS, Moreton Bay LGA had a population of 410,000 in June 2013. Of this, around 70,000 live in Divisions 2 and 3.

The area in focus is a popular family community with around 40% of residents comprising school- age children and adults aged 35–49. Older workers, pre-retirees and empty-nesters make up another 31%. Young people, those aged 18–35, tend to move away from the area to obtain further education or work.

Many people work in clerical, sales, trades or labouring jobs which places their income on the lower end of the scale. About 54% earn less than $1,250 a week.

The most common housing tenure is renting: 38% of households rent, 23% own their homes outright and 31% are owners with mortgages.

Economy and amenities

Country and western music fans will know about Caboolture – it’s where internationally acclaimed country singer Keith Urban grew up.

Formerly a major centre for timber and dairying, Caboolture received an influx of residents in the 1970s and 1980s, as the Brisbane metropolitan area spread north. This occurred with the electrification of the railway line from Brisbane, enabling travel to the Brisbane CBD in less than an hour, the upgrading of the Bruce Highway and the availability of cheap land.

In common with many outer areas of Brisbane, Caboolture Shire Council (before amalgamation created the Moreton Bay Region) encouraged the development of low-cost housing areas that were affordable compared to established areas in Brisbane. This policy resulted in estates of small inexpensive houses on small blocks. At the same time, the Council allowed the subdivision of rural land into 'acreage' housing estates.

Once Caboolture became within easy commuting distance of Brisbane (through improvements to road and rail links), together with the de-regulation of the dairy industry in 2001 and the gradual decline of the timber industry, its footprint increasingly changed from agricultural to urban.

Morayfield Shopping Centre is the principle shopping complex for the region. It is anchored by Coles, Big W, Target and Kmart, has around 150 speciality stores, 3,000 car parks and a Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinema.

Several state and private schools can be found in Caboolture, while the State Government announced in 2013 it would build a new primary school at Caboolture as one of 10 new schools to be built in high-growth areas under a private-public partnership model.

Medical care can be sourced at Caboolture Hospital, a 206-bed hospital.

A reminder of Caboolture's rural origins is found in the showground reserve, which contains a historical village with numerous buildings from the shire re-erected on site. This is located conveniently west of the railway station. TOP 10 BRISBANE & QUEENSLAND HOTSPOTS 2014-15 59

The Queensland State Equestrian Centre, an equestrian sport and multipurpose events venue on 30ha, is next to the showgrounds.

On the fringes of Caboolture's built-up area are the Caboolture Golf Club, the airfield, Centenary Lakes Park and several sports venues.

Before the upgrade of the Bruce Highway, the main road between Brisbane and Caboolture passed through Morayfield. Morayfield’s main commercial area is now concentrated along this road.

Morayfield was named the second best suburb in Australia for family living early in 2014. Mortgage broker Aussie Home Loans commissioned the Top 100 Suburbs for Family Living report, compiled by RPData. Morayfield placed second in a field of about 3,800 suburbs across Australia.

The suburbs were ranked on a range of factors, including house prices, block size, average number of bedrooms, historic capital gains and proximity to local amenities. The Caboolture area as a whole figured prominently in the top 100, with Narangba (43), Bellmere (75) and Deception Bay (77) all making the list.

Burpengary is home to the Caboolture Regional Aquatic Centre which houses a 50m Olympic pool, a 25m warm-up pool, aqua aerobics, tennis, beach volleyball, gymnasium, cafe, barbecues and enclosed children's play areas.

Burpengary has three primary schools and a high school. Another high school is located in nearby Narangba.

Citytrain has regular train services from the Brisbane CBD to Caboolture and the Sunshine Coast; these stop at Caboolture, Morayfield, Burpengary and Narangba.

Property profile

Six suburbs in this precinct have recorded 100 or more house sales in the past 12 months, including four with well over 300 sales each, reinforcing the popularity of this area with buyers seeking homes at affordable prices.

There has been increased sales activity throughout this area recently; in particular Caboolture, Morayfield, Burpengary and Narangba have collectively had 1,216 sales for the 12 months ending July 2014, according to Australian Property Monitors.

This reflects an increase of 284 (30%) for the corresponding period in 2013. Increased sales are usually a prelude to an increase in property prices, and while growth has been modest to date, higher prices are expected to follow.

The appeal of this precinct is affordability – houses at prices below $350,000 are readily available and, in the case of Caboolture South and Deception Bay, there are homes in the high $200,000s. 60 TOP 10 BRISBANE & QUEENSLAND HOTSPOTS 2014-15

High density housing hasn’t found its way to Caboolture – yet. The majority of residential properties around Caboolture, Morayfield and Burpengary are stand-alone houses while small acreages are also popular.

The unit market is small, with median prices in Caboolture, Morayfield and Burpengary generally in the low-mid $200,00s. Narangba is a little bit higher at $335,000.

A sample of properties currently listed for sale within this precinct include the following: " Suburb Type Beds Price Rent Yield Comments

Caboolture Res. Land - $195,000 - - 951m² in a new estate

Caboolture Unit 2 $160,000 $240 7.8% Close to transport, schools, shops, hospital

Caboolture House 3 $310,000 - - House and land package (375m²)

Morayfield House 3 $249,000 $290 5.8% Close to shops, schools, transport

Morayfield Unit 3 $285,000 $285 5.2% Brick, close to train, schools, shops

Caboolture House 4 $345,000 $330 4.9% 2yrs old, a/c, close to transport

Morayfield House 4 $349,000 $350 5.2% Low set brick, a/c, on 900m²

Caboolture House 5 $749,000 $460 3.1% 10 acres, 2k from CBD, able to sub-divide

Burpengary House 4+3 $750,000 - - 2 residences on 2 acres, pool, sheds

Source: realestate.com

Vacancy rates throughout this precinct are low: Caboolture 0.9%, Morayfield 1.1%, Burpengary 1.3% and Narangba 2.2%.

Rental yields are generally in the 5.1% to 5.6% range, although Caboolture South is a little higher at 5.9%.

The property market in the Moreton Regional Council precinct can be summarised as follows:

Suburb No . of sales $ Median price $ 1yr growth $ Growth ave . $ Median yield $

Beachmere 59 $315,000 9 % 2 % 5.1 % Bellmere 100 $320,000 -3 % 1 % 5.3 % Burpengary 186 $381,000 6 % 3 % 5.2 % Caboolture 334 $310,000 1 % 3 % 5.6 % Caboolture Sth 83 $275,000 7 % 4 % 5.9 % Deception Bay 331 $293,000 3 % 2 % 5.6 % Morayfield 352 $321,000 4 % 3 % 5.4 % Narangba 344 $430,000 2 % 4 % 5.2 % Upper Caboolture 64 $359,000 9 % 2 % 5.2 % Source: APM. No. of sales ! is the number of house sales in the past 12 months. Growth ave. ! is the average annual growth in median prices over the past 10 years. !snr != statistically not reliable TOP 10 BRISBANE & QUEENSLAND HOTSPOTS 2014-15 61

Future Prospects

The State Government has identified Caboolture-Morayfield as a Principal Regional Activity Centre in the Regional Plan 2009- 2031. It is one of only three Principal Activity Centres north of the Brisbane CBD.

Under this plan, Council is required to prepare a land use and infrastructure strategy, including creation of jobs, to guide development over the next 20 years.

Other areas identified by the State Government for future development include Narangba East and Elimbah East. But probably the most interesting proposal is the Caboolture West Master Plan which covers 6,500ha west of Caboolture and Morayfield and extends north beyond Wamuran.

The Caboolture West site has been selected because much infrastructure is already in place and it is not significantly affected by slope, flood, water supply catchment areas or Class A agricultural land.

Moreton Bay Regional Council has outlined three possible scenarios for Caboolture West:

1. Creation of a large town with 80,000 people, 30,000 houses and 18,000 jobs;

2. Creation of a medium town with 60,000 people, 23,000 houses and 16,000 jobs;

3. Creation of a small town with 19,000 people, 7,000 houses and 2,000 jobs.

According to the Council’s website, the new draft planning scheme which incorporates Caboolture West will not come into effect until 2015.

NBN

Following the 2013 Federal election, the National Broadband Network’s rollout became temporarily side-lined. The revised rollout is now coming to Caboolture and selected areas of the Moreton Bay Region.

NBN Co chief customer officer John Simon said in October 2014: "This means more than 200,000 Australian homes and businesses will able to take advantage of fast and reliable broadband sooner than expected, with these areas previously not earmarked to receive the NBN in the coming 12 months," he said.

"The early experiences of consumers and businesses on our trials demonstrate that existing technologies are capable of playing a vital role in delivering the NBN quicker, more efficiently and more cost effectively for all Australians."