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“The buyers are a mix of locals upgrading and out-of-towners.” He said there were a lot of buyers from down south as the good news about the Mackay region continued to spread. And the activity is set to continue through 2018. “The market is moving fast,” he said. “I think the start of last year it was slow, but the pace has picked up.” He said in one weekend at the start of February, his team showed 35 properties to about 110 groups of people. “The top end of the market is still just about 1 per cent of the buyers, it’s pretty tiny,” he said. But unlike a few years ago, buyers were now contacting the Explore agents, scouting for the property they wanted and not necessarily what was presently on the market. “We’re getting more and more of those people,” Mr Chick said. He said a lot of them were out-of-towners. “I think there is a volume of good news coming out of Mackay – and that’s important. (Buyers) have seen enough evidence that things have turned around.” Mr Chick said one of the key indicators was the vacancy rates.
During the height of the downturn, the vacancy rate in Mackay was hovering about 11 per cent and was one of the worst in the state. In only 18 months, that figure has dropped to less than 3 per cent, and recent arrivals will soon be increasing the sales activity after renting initially. ■ Explore Property Mackay is at 224 Victoria St, Mackay. ABOVE: Some of the Explore Property team, Natika Daniel, Kellie Hooper, Letitia Mackay, Ben Chick, Tanya Smith and Jodie Mogford. RIGHT: Ben Chick, Alan Finch and Jordan Miller directors of Explore Property Commercial.
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WHEN Ben Chick started Explore Property in Mackay, there were people who thought he was mad. The real estate agent opened the doors of his new venture in January 2015. At the time, Mackay was caught in a downward spiral and no one could see the bottom. There were thousands of empty homes and in the newer northern suburbs, where the boom exploded, the outlook wasn’t good. When things were at their worst, Mr Chick saw an opportunity and opened a 170sq m office with three other staff. Since then the office has moved to a bigger space as Mr Chick and the 25-strong team continue to grow the business. “There is never a right time to start a business, it’s just when opportunity knocks,” Mr Chick said. Explore is one of the most active agents in the luxury market. Mr Chick said the majority of luxury homes sold because they had an attraction “people just can’t go past”. He said right now the luxury market looked affordable and homes were still priced close to what they were during the downturn that hit the market severely.
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