This boom’s different”: Forum to focus on Fraser’s future
photo Glen Winney: President of the Fraser Coast Property Industry Association
Fraser Coast Chronicle
by STUART FAST
10th Mar 2021 5:00 AM
The welcome changes and not-so-welcome challenges that come with an unprecedented property boom will be the subject of a major forum later this month.
Fraser Coast Property Association President Glen Winney said the forum would dive into the future of the local property market and the potential side effects of the sudden upswing.
“I’ve been here for over 40 years, I haven’t seen a residential boom like this before,” Mr Winney told the Chronicle
“We’ve had big booms in the past … this boom different, it’s based on owner occupiers and a trend where people want to live in regional towns.
“There are challenges … the tough situation is the rental market, because the HomeBuilder grant has stimulated owner occupiers, there hasn’t been enough investment to buy rental properties for people live in.”
Mr Winney said when the HomeBuilder grant finished in March, there needed to be more focus on bringing property investors to the Fraser Coast.
He said one way to do this was to speed up government processes to get approvals and titles for land quicker and expand infrastructure like sewage into new housing areas.
“We want to raise it up and have a conversation about it, it’s not about pointing blame, no one saw this boom coming, it is an anomaly in the market. We have to work out how we can manage it going forward,” Mr Winney said.
“It’s a wider community issue … it affects everybody in the community and we are open for a broader discussion on the issue.”
The forum will be held on Wednesday March 24.