[arm79]

It's a very weird situation we find ourselves in at the moment.

In the bubble that is Hervey Bay and surrounds, we have a massive housing shortage. But it was mostly caused by "wealthy" transplants from Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne.

During covid Hervey Bay was not under any sort of lockdown, worst we had was a mask requirement for 2 weeks. So it was very attractive place to be for a lot of people. And boy, did those people come.

Half way through the pandemic people desperate to get away from lockdowns were buying houses sight unseen at stupid prices. People would jump on a plane from Sydney, look at 2 or 3 houses, and buy one before catching a flight home later that day.

Mum and Dad bought here at the start of the financial crisis for $580k, even then that was a $200k haircut on the asking price. It was revalued by the bank and real estate agents at the end of 2019 for the same $580k, but it had dipped below that in the decade in between. 5 to 6 months ago it was revalued for between $1m to $1.1m.

If this house was in Sydney or Wollongong it's sale price would start with a 2.

Friends who bought a simple house and land package on 800m2 for $340k in 2018 sold it 3 years later for $560k. Should have held on another year for an extra $100k to $150k.

And that's what's happened everywhere here. New tenancy laws which remove all rights from the landlord are due in soon and landlords have sold up quick smart at massive profits before they start having trouble. Blocks of land that were empty for decades are now sold with construction already started.

Unfortunately this has lead to a massive homeless population. People who were paying $250 a week rent now are being demanded $400 to $500. People who have been kicked out because their house got sold cant find another for lack of supply or completely priced out the market.

One lady on the local FB pages claims she is part of a family of 4. Husband runs a business, she's a professional and 2 young teen kids. They have been couch surfing, caravanning or tenting for over a year. Said they can afford $600 a week rent and have applied for over 100 rentals with no success, let alone a reply.

Mini tent cities by the community centre are common.

Dad's yearly revenue is up 45% above average this year. He's never done so many big jobs for people in a year.

Then we come to the point where all those wealthy people who overpaid for their properties are doing reno work. Sparkies, plumbers, chippies are in big demand.

The sparky in Dads complex has nearly 500 outstanding booked jobs. He's now turning away work, something he said he's never done. He cant find extra sparkies and has some leave to setup their own business. Recently sold 2 of his vans because he cant staff them.

My neighbour had a kitchen reno done but had a hiccup between the plumbers and cabinet guy and missed getting the plumber out to hookup the sink tap. So he rang around and asked for someone driving by to stop in and hookup the kitchen mixer and thats it. Cheapest price was $400.

I've never heard this before, but the guy next door to Dad's shop is shutting down because he is too successful. He runs a mobile windscreen business and can't keep up with work. He's working 6 full days a week, has enough work for 2 more people but cant find anyone. He's had enough of the hours and abuse from people he cant service, so is shutting down and travelling Australia.

Local Holden dealership turned into a Merc, Subaru, Renault and LDV dealer. They appear to be killing it.

But the trippy thing is, most of the people moving here are families. Not retiree's, as is the norm, but Mum and Dad and their 2.3 kids. But there is nothing here for them. There is no business, nothing professional. Just tourism, aged care and hospitality.

The only way I can explain it is we are in some weird bubble where people have been hiding an absolute sh*tload of cash under their mattress and they are out spending it. All at once.

Be interesting to see what happens when this bubble bursts and people see themselves very over extended. Mostly with mortgages that are far in excess of the property value.