Gladstone refugees pour in

IT SEEMS Bundaberg is the new Gladstone, with real estate agents across the city reporting big numbers of retirees and young families from the mining boom town snapping up property here.

The exodus from Bundaberg's northern neighbours has been so great that several real estate agents say the majority of their recent sales and inquiries have been from mining towns, particularly Gladstone.

Richardson & Wrench principal Le-Anne Allan said the effects of the mining boom had given the Bundaberg housing market its best couple of months "in about five years".

She said the past six or seven weeks had seen a huge increase in business.

"Nine out of 10 inquiries are coming from the Gladstone area," she said.

"It has been a mix of buyers."

Ms Allan said a number of buyers had been retirees who were selling their Gladstone homes for a good profit and buying in Bargara, seduced by the quieter and cheaper area to live.

Other buyers included mining families looking for somewhere quiet to bring up their children, or miners who previously lived in the Bundaberg region looking for an investment property.

Ms Allan said the agency had potentially recorded its biggest month in the past five years.

Bargara Real Estate principal Paul Beer said he had been experiencing a similar increase for the past three months.

"About 80% of all our sales have come from mining areas including Gladstone, Rockhampton and even Mackay," he said.

Mr Beer said like Ms Allan, he had seen buyers from a variety of age groups.

"I think it is only the start - there is more to come," he told the NewsMail.

Michael's Real Estate principal Michael Dempsey said he was seeing at least one or two people a week from Gladstone looking for a house in the area.

"It's just starting to trickle through," he said.

"It's like the start of a train leaving the station - it's slow at first, but it soon picks up speed."