Flood in blood: Assessing housing market vulnerability within the Fitzroy Basin region, Australia

Regional communities in Queensland, Australia are the life-blood of the state; contributing more than 80% of exports goods and services, as well as about 16 billion dollars each year to the state’s economy. Weather-related disasters such as floods have become more frequent over the last fifty years in those communities. Between December 2010 and January 2011, three-quarters of the state was declared as disaster zone as a result of flooding. At least seventy towns and over 200,000 people were affected by these floods. The Fitzroy Basin is the largest coastal catchment in Queensland and the second largest catchment in Australia; and the most towns in this basin have been affected by this flood. This study examined the vulnerability of the housing market through a case study of Rockhampton region within this basin by using longitudinal data of total house sales, new house and land package sales, land sales before and after the 2011 flood and also tested the results with a key regional economic factor (mining development) whether the flood impact has been relieved by this factor. This study found that the flood has affected the total house sales compared to new house and land sales and land only sales; and also flood impact has relatively relieved by mining impact.