Rare uniform price jump of $88,000 hits Townsville homes and units – realestate.com.au

A rare, almost identical increase of $88,000 for houses, units and all properties saw Townsville homes earn more than the average worker last year – overtaking a decade of declines.

The rare uniform increase that signals unprecedented demand across the housing spectrum was revealed in the latest PropTrack Home Price Index, released Monday, with homes up $88,040, units up $87,704 and the overall housing market up $88,223 over the past 12 months.

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REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh.

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A three-bedroom house on an 807 sqm block at 27 Samantha Street, Kelso, sold for $580,000 on February 25, 2026.

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Units drove the rise in the Townsville market, which rose 21.81 per cent to push the median to $489,844, while houses rose 15.61 per cent to $652,623. All homes combined rose 16.71 percent to an average of $615,880.

REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh said it was possible prices in Townsville and Cairns could peak this year but still see double-digit growth.

“It’s a normal part of the market cycle after years of consistently being among the top regions in the country for growth,” she said.

“Growth is moderating compared to previous momentum, but is still high. Cairns is still recording double-digit annual growth. Townsville is still going strong, with annual growth approaching 17 percent. In Cairns it is 14 percent. This is still very strong, especially in the context of national increases.”

Benjamin Kingsberry, Real Estate Institute of Queensland zone chairman for Townsville, said the price increase was “certainly a huge increase” but the market was still correcting a decade of previous declines.

“From about 2009 to about 2019, the market just went downhill. We had high vacancy rates. We had a very underperforming market for a very long time. Some of what we’re seeing now is actually still a correction.”

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REIQ Townsville zone chair Ben Kingsberry. Photo: Leighton Smith.

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A four-bedroom house at 11 Dommett Street, Wulguru – with stables on a 1,012 sqm block – sold on February 26, 2026 for $599,000.

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The units outpaced houses in percentage terms as they lagged behind for years, he said.

“Houses were going up for a few years before units started seeing that growth. We’ve certainly seen a lot more attention to the unit market recently, just really based on affordability and the fact that five years ago it was really feasible for first-time buyers to buy a reasonably good quality home, reasonably well located, whereas now, if you’re a first-time home buyer, we’ve seen a lot more attention go into that unit space.”

He said for sellers considering putting their homes on the market, the timing was right.

“If you’re looking to sell in the next 12 months, or even in the next couple of years, my advice is that now is probably a good time to look at it. We don’t know what it’s going to look like in 12 months. We know it’s very, very strong right now.”

He said buyers in this market must be strategic to be competitive.

“It’s not just about price, we often sell homes not necessarily to the highest bid, but to the one with the best terms,” Kingsberry said.

“If I had an offer of, say, €600,000 on a house, and they had another offer of €610,000, but it included conditions, then our advice to the seller would generally be to strongly consider the €600,000 because there is less risk.”

Mr Kingsberry said cash-strapped southern buyers had been driving growth for years because they discovered value long before locals saw it.

“A few years ago, they were looking at markets like ours to buy four-bedroom, two-bath homes for $400,000 or $450,000, which would cost $600,000 to build. They just looked at it from a different perspective. The locals have now caught up with them.”

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