Long overdue rail link tracking closer to reality

[lwptoc]

By Adam Empringham, Image Property

A long-awaited passenger train line between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane will be examined in the new year, which would dramatically impact the region.

You’re probably thinking, well, there already is a passenger rail line between the two regions, and you’d be right.

However, the existing line deposits most coast-bound passengers at Nambour, which is a fair distance from the actual Sunshine Coast coastline.

This piece of transport infrastructure will change that unfortunate fact by creating a spur line that would leave the existing rail line at Beerwah and head towards the popular holiday destination spots of Caloundra and Maroochydore.

Like so many of these major projects, the idea is not new. In fact, the Caloundra and Maroochydore Corridor (CAMCOS) has been protected since 1999, with detailed planning continuing for the following decade.

Since that time, though, the rail-link has been little more than political promises which ultimately never left the station.

But, as part of planning for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics bid and during the Federal Government’s high-speed rail project, the project came back on the table.

All levels of government – local, state, and federal – agreed that the rail link was vital to manage the strong population growth on the Sunshine Coast.

Even before the pandemic hit, the coast’s population was projected to hit 500,000 within two decades. Still, that figure may be somewhat conservative given the uptick in intra- and inter-state migrants into the region over the past two years.

Indeed, the latest population statistics reveal the coast’s population is growing by nearly 20,000 people every year – far more than what was originally forecast.

What’s ahead for local markets?

The economic trajectory for the southeast corner is overwhelmingly positive, courtesy of projects of this magnitude as well as many others such as the Cross River Rail, Brisbane Metro, Queens Wharf, and, of course, the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

There is no question that the past year has been a bumper one for the region’s property market, with double-digit price growth recorded in most locations.

However, at the tail-end of 2021, we are starting to see some markets soften a little bit, as far as the level of intensity that was there previously. For example, if you go back a couple of months, you’d put a listing live, and it would just go nuts.

My prediction is, now that borders are open, we’ll probably see another little spike in intensity, purely for those that probably weren’t willing to commit as far as buying real estate here virtually.

Now that they can physically check it out and get their holidays out of the way at the same time, too, we’ll see some intensity there.

I do still feel that we will continue to see that dramatic growth on the Sunshine Coast. It’s still got a lot of legs in that market due to a number of contributing factors, including the proposed rail link and a brand-new CBD in Maroochydore that is well underway.

The Sunshine Coast really will be the standout from a growth perspective this year, in my opinion, but Brisbane will also continue to be one of the top performers of all capital cities for some time yet.