Residential land development activity profile, September quarter 2016
Townsville City
The residential land development activity profile for
Townsville City, hereafter referred to as Townsville,
provides a comprehensive summary of recent residential
land development and dwelling activity indicators within the
local government area. Topics covered include
broadhectare land supply, uncompleted lots (approvals,
operational works, and certifications), lot registrations, lot
sales, dwelling sales and dwelling approvals (Figure 1).
Broadhectare land supply
Broadhectare land refers to residential greenfield and
brownfield land (greater than 2,500 m²) that is currently
suitable for residential development. The latest
broadhectare results show that there were approximately
6,440 hectares of broadhectare land suitable for residential
development in Townsville.
Based on the planning scheme intent, existing approvals, and an analysis of residential densities by location, this supply is expected to
yield some 45,000 dwellings. This yield takes into account ownership and land fragmentation issues which often reduce the yield.
Residential lot approvals
Before residential lots can be created, an applicant must first obtain a development permit approval for reconfiguring a lot (RaL) from
the local government authority. In the year to September quarter 2016, council approved the development of 586 residential lots. This
was a decrease of 27 per cent compared with the same period last year when 808 lots were approved. Figure 2 compares quarterly lot
approvals in Townsville over a number of years.
Figure 1: Residential land development stages
Broadhectare
land
Material
change of use
(where required)
Uncompleted lot
(closing stock of approvals)
Lot
approval
(reconfiguring a lot)
Operational
works
Lot
registration
Land
sale
Dwelling
approval
Lot
production
(lot certification)
Small projects
Figure 2: Quarterly residential lot development activity, Townsville City
Number of lots
Operational works
Lots approved
1,800
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Quarter
Lots certified
Dwelling
occupancy
Figure 3: Lot approvals by type,
Townsville City
Structure of residential lot approvals
In the year ending September quarter 2016, almost all of the lots
approved for development in Townsville were at urban densities
(Figure 3). During this period, 26 lots were approved at rural
residential densities as described in the planning scheme.
Rural residential
Urban
2,500
Number of lots
2,000
Table 1 shows that the 586 lots approved for development in
Townsville during the year ending September quarter 2016 were
within 47 development projects. Projects approved to produce
over 50 lots per project represented 9 per cent of the projects
approved during this period, while accounting for 71 per cent of
the total lots approved (Figure 4).
1,500
1,000
500
0
Year to September
Table 1: Lot approvals by project size, Townsville City
Size of development project
Year ending
September
smaller projects
larger projects
1 to 2 lots
3 to 5 lots
6 to 10 lots
Total (Total
lots projects)
Total (Total
lots projects)
Total (Total
lots projects)
11 to 20 lots
All project
sizes
21 to 50 lots
Over 50 lots
Total (Total
lots projects)
Total (Total
lots projects)
Total (Total
lots projects)
Total (Total
lots projects)
2008
54
(48)
24
(7)
33
(4)
103
(6)
999
(30)
384
(5)
1,597
(100)
2009
51
(43)
41
(11)
29
(4)
52
(4)
328
(10)
956
(8)
1,457
(80)
2010
40
(36)
18
(5)
22
(3)
58
(4)
24
(1)
1,331
(8)
1,493
(57)
2011
24
(20)
10
(3)
21
(3)
66
(4)
276
(9)
1,757
(5)
2,154
(44)
2012
38
(34)
7
(2)
16
(2)
74
(5)
226
(7)
589
(5)
950
(55)
2013
33
(31)
22
(6)
0
(0)
80
(5)
386
(12)
1,226
(14)
1,747
(68)
2014
47
(44)
13
(3)
0
(0)
14
(1)
60
(2)
1,081
(6)
1,215
(56)
2015
32
(30)
3
(1)
25
(3)
24
(2)
261
(7)
463
(5)
808
(48)
2016
37
(34)
9
(3)
17
(2)
12
(1)
96
(3)
415
(4)
586
(47)
Dec qtr 2015
11
(9)
3
(1)
0
(0)
12
(1)
0
(0)
138
(1)
164
(12)
Mar qtr 2016
10
(10)
3
(1)
10
(1)
0
(0)
24
(1)
91
(1)
138
(14)
Jun qtr 2016
3
(3)
3
(1)
7
(1)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
13
(5)
Sep qtr 2016
13
(12)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
72
(2)
186
(2)
271
(16)
Figure 4: Lot approvals by project size, year ending September 2016, Townsville City
Percentage
Lots approved
Projects approved
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 to 2 lots
3 to 5 lots
6 to 10 lots
11 to 20 lots
21 to 50 lots
Over 50 lots
Size of development project
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
2
Operational works approvals
Before an approved development proceeds, detailed engineering drawings and specifications for civil engineering and landscaping (or
"operational works") must be approved by council. Such works may not be required for small projects.
In the year to September quarter 2016, council gave operational works approvals for the development of 587 lots (Table 2). The total
stock of lots with current operational works approvals at the end of September quarter 2016 was 1,725 lots. These lots represent
approved land that is most likely to be developed in the short term and accounted for 28 per cent of the 6,088 uncompleted lots in the
pipeline (Table 3 and Figure 5).
Table 2: Uncompleted residential lots¹, Townsville City
Year to
September
Opening
stock
(a)
Lots
approved
(b)
Operational works
approvals
Lots
certified
(c)
Lots
lapsed
(d)
2008
5,069
1,597
1,763
2009
4,675
1,457
2010
5,002
1,493
2011
5,091
2012
Closing
stock
(a+b-c-d)
1,936
55
4,675
697
969
161
5,002
974
1,039
365
5,091
2,154
796
939
104
6,202
6,202
950
931
947
279
5,926
2013
5,926
1,747
916
1,081
404
6,188
2014
6,188
1,215
979
1,093
26
6,284
2015
6,284
808
791
883
62
6,147
2016
6,147
586
587
597
48
6,088
Dec qtr 2015
6,147
164
188
116
2
6,193
Mar qtr 2016
6,193
138
39
230
32
6,069
Jun qtr 2016
6,069
13
120
79
11
5,992
Sep qtr 2016
5,992
271
240
172
3
6,088
1) Uncompleted lots are lots with a RaL development permit approval but have not proceeded to survey plan certification.
Figure 5: Stock of approved lots by type,
Townsville City
Table 3: Stock of approved lots by type,
Townsville City
Closing stock of lots
Percentage with
RaL development Operational works operational works
approval
approval
approval
Dec qtr 2013
6,468
1,542
24%
Mar qtr 2014
6,232
1,732
28%
Jun qtr 2014
6,286
1,691
27%
Sep qtr 2014
6,284
1,620
26%
Dec qtr 2014
6,572
1,568
24%
Mar qtr 2015
6,406
1,573
25%
Jun qtr 2015
6,255
1,628
26%
Sep qtr 2015
6,147
1,623
26%
Dec qtr 2015
6,193
1,697
27%
Mar qtr 2016
6,069
1,543
25%
Jun qtr 2016
5,992
1,614
27%
Sep qtr 2016
6,088
1,725
28%
Closing stock of lots with RaL development approval
Stock of lots with operational works approval
7,000
6,000
5,000
Number of lots
Quarter
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
2014
2015
2016
Year ending September
3
Lot production (lot certification)
Once council is satisfied with all aspects of the development being implemented, it will then issue a certificate of compliance. In total,
597 residential lots were certified by council in the year to September quarter 2016 (Table 2). Compared with the previous year when
883 lots were certified, this represented a decrease of 32 per cent.
Lots lapsed
Lots lapsed refers to the number of lots that receive approval by council, but are not developed or certified by the council within the
prescribed period (allowing for time extensions if applicable). Lots lapsed also include previously approved lots that are not expected to
proceed due to new or amended approvals (obsolete lots). In the year to September quarter 2016, 48 lots previously approved for
development had lapsed in Townsville.
Closing stock
The total stock of approved lots that are uncompleted is adjusted to take into consideration lots approved, certified and lapsed during
the reporting period. Table 2 shows that at the end of September quarter 2016, Townsville still had active approvals for the
development of 6,088 new residential lots. It is expected, however, that some developments will not proceed and a number of
approvals will subsequently lapse or be amended.
Lot registrations
New lots within plans certified by council do not legally exist until the titles have been registered by the Department of Natural
Resources and Mines. This registration is the final stage in the development of new lots. The number of urban lots registered in
Townsville during September quarter 2016 increased by 12 per cent to 149 registrations compared with 133 registrations recorded in
the previous quarter (Table 4 and Figure 6). Total lot registrations for the year ending September 2016 were down 52 per cent
compared with the previous year. Table 5 categorises the standard lots registered in Townsville by lot size.
Table 4: Lot registrations, Townsville City
Urban residential lot registrations
Median lot size
Standard lots
September
60m² to <2,500m²
2008
1,640
2009
917
2010
1,139
298
1,437
33
1,470
602m²
2011
913
153
1,066
73
1,139
626m²
2012
1,001
129
1,130
32
1,162
570m²
2013
1,054
98
1,152
31
1,183
540m²
2014
972
385
1,357
32
1,389
520m²
2015
742
262
1,004
93
1,097
531m²
2016
400
100
500
30
530
506m²
Dec qtr 2015
49
22
71
16
87
487m²
Mar qtr 2016
137
10
147
1
148
417m²
Jun qtr 2016
83
50
133
4
137
490m²
Sep qtr 2016
131
18
149
9
158
576m²
a
Unit and
Low density
Year to
Total
lot registrations
Total lot
Standard lots
urban lots
2,500m² to 5ha
registrations
60m² to <2,500m²
621
2,261
107
2,368
638m²
658
1,575
125
1,700
634m²
townhouse lots
b
a
a) Lots on a standard format plan intended for detached dwellings, including lots intended for detached dwellings in a community title scheme.
b) Lots on a building format plan or standard format plan that represent attached dwellings within a community title scheme.
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
4
Table 5: Standard lot registrations ͣ by size, Townsville City
Standard lot registrations by lot size category
Year to
September
60m²
to <200m²
200m²
to <350m²
350m²
to <450m²
450m²
to <600m²
600m²
800m²
1,000m²
2,500m²
4,000m²
to <800m² to <1,000m² to <2,500m² to <4,000m² to 5ha
Total standard
registrations
60m² to 5ha
2008
0
0
49
521
873
102
95
2
105
1,747
2009
0
0
51
293
456
76
41
4
121
1,042
2010
0
0
57
496
438
89
59
7
26
1,172
2011
0
0
29
351
426
81
26
11
62
986
2012
0
14
134
395
349
56
53
7
25
1,033
2013
17
48
175
415
300
65
34
15
16
1,085
2014
16
41
190
385
221
50
69
9
23
1,004
2015
0
0
184
283
178
38
59
14
79
835
2016
23
19
97
118
83
23
37
12
18
430
Dec qtr 2015
2
0
17
16
9
0
5
4
12
65
Mar qtr 2016
21
19
35
11
28
5
18
0
1
138
Jun qtr 2016
0
0
20
46
11
2
4
2
2
87
Sep qtr 2016
0
0
25
45
35
16
10
6
3
140
a) Lots on a standard format plan intended for detached dwellings, including lots intended for detached dwellings in a community title scheme.
Figure 6: Quarterly standard lot registrations by size, Townsville City
Standard lot registrations
60m² to <450m²
450m² to <800m²
800m² to <2,500m²
2,500m² to 5ha
600
500
Number of lots
400
300
200
100
0
Quarter
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
5
New lot sales (includes house and land packages)
In the year ending September quarter 2016, there were 628 new lots sold in Townsville, of which 437 were vacant (Table 6). The
remaining 191 lots were either part of a developer house and land package sale or consisted of an existing dwelling that was sold after
subdivision of a parent parcel.
In the year ending September quarter 2016, the median sale price of vacant land in Townsville was $155,000. This represented a
decrease of 3 per cent in median value compared with the previous year (Table 6). Quarterly vacant land sales for Townsville are
shown in Figure 7.
Table 6: Sales of new lots, Townsville City
Number of new lot sales a (140m² to 2,500m²)
Year to
September
Vacant
land c
2008
1,244
2009
2010
House & land
package d
Total
Median sale price b (140m² to 2,500m²)
House & land
package d
Median price per m²
Vacant land bc
sales
Vacant
land c
198
1,442
$167,000
$424,998
$268
1,114
373
1,487
$164,900
$410,000
$253
1,134
284
1,418
$164,000
$425,000
$263
2011
869
402
1,271
$162,000
$415,000
$270
2012
1,045
295
1,340
$161,000
$408,370
$271
2013
1,001
321
1,322
$160,000
$423,428
$283
2014
983
293
1,276
$163,000
$418,750
$290
(140m² to 2,500m²)
2015
646
206
852
$159,500
$398,000
$291
2016p
437
191
628
$155,000
$410,000
$286
Dec qtr 2015
124
73
197
$158,000
$412,200
$273
Mar qtr 2016
92
41
133
$160,000
$400,000
$270
Jun qtr 2016
108
41
149
$150,000
$420,000
$298
Sep qtr 2016p
113
36
149
$151,500
$395,000
$296
p = preliminary; subject to revision as a number of sale contracts may not have reached settlement at time of data collection.
a) Normal sales and multi-sale transactions. Excludes part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
b) Normal sale transactions. Excludes multi-sales, part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
c) May include resales of vacant land. Excludes intermediate vacant land transactions relating to developer house and land package sales.
d) Includes lots as a component of a developer house and land package in addition to subdivided lots containing an existing dwelling.
Figure 7: Quarterly vacant land sales, Townsville City
Sale price b
Lowest quartile
Median
Highest quartile
$250,000
600
500
Sale price
$200,000
400
$150,000
300
$100,000
200
$50,000
Number of sales
Number of sales ª
100
0
$0
Quarter
p = preliminary; subject to revision as a number of sale contracts may not have reached settlement at time of data collection.
a) Normal sales and multi-sale transactions. Excludes part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
b) Normal sale transactions. Excludes multi-sales, part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
6
Dwelling sales
In the year ending September quarter 2016, there were 2,969 new and established dwellings sold in Townsville. Of these dwellings,
2,413 (81 per cent) were detached houses (Table 7).
In September quarter 2016, 596 detached house sales were recorded with a median value of $335,000. This was a decrease of
11 per cent in dwelling sales volume and a decrease of 4 per cent in median value compared with the same quarter last year
(Figure 8).
Table 7: Dwelling sales, Townsville City
Number of dwelling sales a
Year to
September
Detached
houses
Median sale price b
Units &
townhouses
Total
dwellings
Detached
houses
Units &
townhouses
2008
3,319
1,149
4,468
$369,000
$327,500
2009
3,427
1,071
4,498
$363,535
$320,000
2010
2,953
789
3,742
$380,000
$340,000
2011
2,657
626
3,283
$375,000
$330,000
2012
2,739
841
3,580
$365,000
$320,000
2013
2,859
709
3,568
$366,000
$312,000
2014
2,801
784
3,585
$365,000
$289,000
2015
2,657
703
3,360
$355,000
$295,000
2016
2,413
556
2,969
$342,000
$280,000
Dec qtr 2015
654
172
826
$355,000
$310,000
Mar qtr 2016
596
129
725
$340,000
$285,000
Jun qtr 2016
567
135
702
$340,000
$275,000
Sep qtr 2016
596
120
716
$335,000
$257,500
a) Normal sales and multi-sale transactions. Excludes part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
b) Normal sale transactions. Excludes multi-sales, part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
Figure 8: Quarterly detached house sales, Townsville City
Sale price b
Lowest quartile
Median
Highest quartile
$500,000
$450,000
$400,000
$350,000
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$0
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
Number of sales
Sale price
Number of sales ª
200
0
Quarter
a) Normal sales and multi-sale transactions. Excludes part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
b) Normal sale transactions. Excludes multi-sales, part-sales and sales made under other special circumstances.
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
7
Dwelling approvals
In the year ending September quarter 2016, Townsville recorded a 36 per cent decrease in residential dwelling approvals compared with
the previous year. There was a total of 846 approvals (81 per cent of which were for separate houses) compared with 1,321 approvals in
the year ending September 2015 (Table 8 and Figure 9).
Top local government areas for development activity
Table 9 displays the top 10 local government areas in Queensland for several development activity indicators for the year ending
September 2016. The table shows that a considerable amount of the state's development activity is occurring in the local government
areas of Gold Coast City, Brisbane City, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Ipswich City and Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
Figure 9: Dwelling approvals by type,
Townsville City
Table 8: Dwelling approvals by type,
Townsville City
Number of dwellings
Year to
Houses
September
Houses
Other
Total
2009
1,237
175
1,412
1,800
2010
1,331
361
1,692
1,600
2011
1,103
277
1,380
2012
1,267
259
1,526
2013
1,207
269
1,476
2014
1,232
545
1,777
2015
983
338
1,321
2016
688
158
846
Dec qtr 2015
177
49
226
Mar qtr 2016
153
32
185
Jun qtr 2016
181
20
201
Sep qtr 2016
177
57
234
Other
Number of dw ellings
2,000
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Year ending September
Table 9: Top local government areas for development activity in Queensland, year ending September 2016
Rank
Lot approvals
Local government area
1
Moreton Bay (R)
Standard lot registrations
No.
3,899
Local government area
Gold Coast (C)
No.
3,126
New lot sales (p)
Local government area
Detached dwelling approvals ¹
No.
Local government area
No.
Gold Coast (C)
2,892
Gold Coast (C)
3,890
2
Ipswich (C)
3,188
Brisbane (C)
2,691
Brisbane (C)
2,293
Brisbane (C)
3,243
3
Logan (C)
2,793
Ipswich (C)
2,504
Moreton Bay (R)
2,091
Sunshine Coast (R)
2,800
4
Brisbane (C)
2,216
Moreton Bay (R)
1,972
Ipswich (C)
2,084
Moreton Bay (R)
2,713
5
Gold Coast (C)
2,037
Sunshine Coast (R)
1,847
Sunshine Coast (R)
1,990
Ipswich (C)
2,244
1,479
Logan (C)
1,022
Logan (C)
1,198
6
Toowoomba (R)
Logan (C)
2,020
7
Sunshine Coast (R)
968
Redland (C)
977
Redland (C)
864
Redland (C)
1,019
8
Cairns (R)
677
Cairns (R)
428
Cairns (R)
704
Toowoomba (R)
827
9
Fraser Coast (R)
663
Toowoomba (R)
425
Townsville (C)
628
Fraser Coast (R)
689
10
Townsville (C)
586
Fraser Coast (R)
407
Fraser Coast (R)
616
Townsville (C)
688
1) Detached dwelling approvals can occur on existing lots and are not directly comparable with new lot approvals, registrations and sales.
(p) = Preliminary (C) = City (R) = Regional Council
Note: Previous editions of this profile are not directly comparable due to ongoing data revisions and indicator classification
adjustments. For the latest time series data, please refer to our online residential development data tables via the link below.
Residential development data tables are available for
download on the QGSO website:
www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/tables/res-land-devel-indicators
Queensland Government Statistician’s Office
Queensland Treasury
www.qgso.qld.gov.au
Sources for the Residential land development activity profile: ABS
8731.0, Building Approvals, Australia, September 2016; DNRM
Digital Cadastral Database (DCDB); QGSO uncompleted lots
database; QGSO Broadhectare Study; DNRM QVAS database.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© The State of Queensland
(Queensland Treasury) 2017
Residential land development activity profile, Townsville City, September quarter 2016
8