Hi Astra,
I spoke with my agent who said that the rental market is a bit flat at the moment. She said that she expects things to turn around in a few weeks as there is rumoured to be a few mining companies starting work there. She said that Moranbah and Dysart go in runs, the market can be fantastic one month and dead the next.

I did get a call from agent last Friday with a mining company eager to take my house. I have decided to keep the house for a while and just watch it over the next few months. I did notice on realestate.com.au last week there were only 37 properties advertised for rent (which is a bit of a decrease from January). I think and hope that things pick up there.

I also got the following information from someone on the forum (I can’t remember his/her name). They said as follows:

Most of those are mining towns that are riding the crest of the mineral boom
“Energy Developments has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Anglo Coal for the potential development of a new coal mine methane power project of up to 40MW at the Moranbah North Coal Mine “
“Services company, United Group, has been awarded a $220 million construction contract after Dyno Nobel confirmed it was going ahead with the construction of an ammonium nitrate plant at Moranbah, QLD….”

I would tread very carfeully in this town. I think there are lots of bargains to be had there. Which could be good or bad. Alot of people are selling up. Need to question why.Do you research and Im sure you will make the right choice.

I have an investment property in Moranbah that has been vacant for over 2months. Luckly for me the lease doesn’t expire till June 2007. I guess then I will need to drop the rent possibly by $100 per week. I spoken with a couple of local agents who said the ‘boom’ for this area ended last November/ December when families from Moranbah cashed up and moved to Mackay. There seems to be alot of vacancies at the moment as well as alot of proeprties on the market for sale. Ive been told the market is stable.

Im not quite sure what the future holds for Moranbah or surrounding towns. I looked into buying in Blackwater where you can still get decent returns. Ive been told by council that at the end of this year a $9M mining museum will be opened. I was also told by someone at the coucil that the council will be releasing blocks of land for sale for around $100k very soon in the future. I was told the council and government are catching up with the boom times and don’t predect future growth.

I hope this information helps. Im in a delema a the moment as whether I should sell my Moranbah property and move on to somewhere else with more long term growth. I need to do more research.

Sofie [exhappy]