It’s a national report so there is not much explicit about Mount Isa or the North West but some conclusions can be drawn from the report.

The first item of interest was the “property clock” for retail premises. Twelve o’clock is peak of the market, and nowhere in Australia is in this category. Then 3am (or pm if you prefer) is “declining market” and Darwin, Adelaide and Perth are all here. Around 9am is “rising market” and most of the other big cities are here (though Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra are “approaching peak”). At 6am is “bottom of the market” and here you’ll find Gladstone and Townsville.

Townsville is our region and given our focus on mining like Townsville city and Gladstone it is not hard to believe we are at the bottom of the market.

That’s not great news but of course it means we cannot drop any further.

Of course the property clock is far from an exact science but it is a good indicator not only of where we are but where we are headed. 

In fact moving on towards 7am is “start of the recovery” and that is only an hour away on the clock!

In fact when it comes to the residential houses clock Townsville is already at start of the recovery.

It’s the same for residential units though there is not a large market for units in the North West so it would be unwise to draw too many conclusions from that data.

I heard a Herron Todd White analyst on ABC radio on Wednesday morning saying the north west remains a good long term investment though he admitted recent uncertainty raised by the Glencore letter news raised risks.

I agree and as a news provider I am very conscious of the need to tell the truth even if it is bad news but not to overspin the negative aspects as there is much to like and be positive about in our region.

This is not “fake it till you make it” but an unshakable faith in the strategic value of our region to the ever growing importance of Northern Australia and our relative nearness to Asian centres.

Derek Barry