Market Pressure Review: Toowoomba Real Estate in 10 Charts

Toowoomba: The Garden City of Queensland

Toowoomba, a vibrant regional city in Queensland, is perched atop the Great Dividing Range, offering a unique blend of city convenience and country charm. Renowned for its iconic Queens Park, Laurel Bank Park, and rich heritage architecture. Toowoomba’s appeal is further enhanced by its healthy economy driven by agriculture, education, and healthcare. The city’s growing café culture, friendly community, increasing population and affordable housing make it an attractive destination for visitors, residents and investors.

Since 2021, Toowoomba’s house prices have grown robustly, up by around 68% in just four years. Over the last 12 months, Toowoomba has continued to achieve an impressive double-digit growth of nearly 15%. Will this strong growth continue in the coming year? Join us today to explore the city’s current property market conditions and outlook!

As of March 2025, Toowoomba’s House Market Pressure is high.

Among the six metrics InvestorKit uses to measure market performance, Toowoomba scores the highest (=5) in price and rental pressure and 4 in the growth cycle, incoming supply, affordability, and rental yield.

Toowoomba Real Estate – Demographic & Economic Trends

From 2017 to 2021, Toowoomba’s population growth rate dropped gradually, hitting its lowest point of 0.91% in 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, net internal migration surged as more people relocated regionally during the pandemic, while overseas migration plummeted because of travel restrictions.

Since then, the population growth has recovered, fueled by economic recovery and the return of overseas migrants. Toowoomba’s population growth rate was around 1.67% in the 2023-24 financial year.

The growing population is expected to drive higher housing demand in the region in the coming years.

Toowoomba’s unemployment rate has dropped steadily from 5.8% in mid-2022 to a low level of 2.9% in December 2024.

On the other hand, despite a drop, the number of job vacancies is still much higher than the pre-pandemic average. 

Both indicators show that Toowoomba’s job market is more active than ever, and the local economy thrives.

Toowoomba Property Market – Sales Market Trends

Toowoomba’s house market has grown strongly over the last 15 months. The current median house price is $670k, about 14.5% higher than a year ago.

During the same period, the sales days on market have been relatively stable. Currently, it takes around 16 days for a property to be listed on the market before selling. This trend suggests high demand, pointing to the potential for healthy price growth ahead.

Between early and mid-2024, Toowoomba’s number of for-sale house listings experienced a solid downward trend while the sales volume remained relatively stable. These trends contributed to a drop in inventory to an extremely low level of 1.6 months of stock. Afterward, inventory remained low for several months until February 2025, when it rose slightly to 1.7.

The low inventory level implies that market pressure in Toowoomba is high, explaining the short time to sell.

Toowoomba’s building approval rate has been below the balanced benchmark of 3% over the last decade and has declined to a relatively low level since 2022. In 2025, the region saw a slight uptick in house construction activity, but it’s not a big concern as it is still under 3%. Toowoomba’s low building approval rate indicates a low risk of oversupply in the housing market and is a good sign for continued value growth.

Toowoomba’s house price growth accelerated in 2022. It increased by 82% over the last ten years, lower than the average of top-populated regional cities and in line with its long-term average. This moderate 10-year growth implies that Toowoomba is at a healthy cycle position; thus, there is room for further growth.

Toowoomba Property Market – Rental Market Trends

Toowoomba’s rental market is under high pressure. The vacancy rate has dropped since June 2024 and is currently at a low level of around 0.6%. Rental prices have grown relatively strongly at 8.2% over the last 12 months. Due to the high rental market pressure, we expect healthy growth to continue in the coming year.

Toowoomba enjoys a healthy rental yield of 4.5%, which aligns with the average of the top-populated cities. Since sales prices have grown faster than rental prices, yields have decreased steadily since 2021. We expect this downward trend to continue as sales prices will likely continue to outperform.

Over the past decade, Toowoomba’s rental prices have grown by 61%, lower than the average growth rate of the top-populated regional cities. We expect rents to increase further, considering the region’s increasing housing demand driven by the thriving economy, job opportunities, and high rental market pressure.

In the next 6-12 months…

Toowoomba’s house market is currently under high pressure, evidenced by low inventory and short days on the market. At the same time, the rental market is tight as vacancy rates remain extremely low. In the coming 6-12 months, we expect Toowoomba’s house prices to grow healthily, driven by its high market pressure and high affordability. 

Toowoomba is the 13th regional city we examine in this Market Pressure Review Blog Series. Stay tuned for more cities to follow! InvestorKit is a data-driven buyers’ agency that chooses purchasing locations through a sophisticated market pressure analysis system. This methodology has enabled our clients to achieve growth higher than the average and expedite their investment journey. Interested in learning more about InvestorKit’s research and services? Talk to us today by clicking here and requesting your 15-min FREE discovery call!