Menta i spent most of my life in Moranbah and agree with most of what you say. i am not sure where you are getting your population figures from though. The bah wouldn't even have 8000 permanent residents and probably has about 4-5000 in camps atm. this non reisdent population is set to explode with the approval given for 2 more large camps holding around 4500 people between them. i was lucky enough to sell up and move on during 2012 (although missing market top by only a couple of months.) the market went crazy when supply simply couldn't meet demand. Interestingly this all occurred when one large company was seeking approval for a 100 percent fly fly out at a new project. the main basis for the argument centred on the lack of affordable accomodation. around 2-3 weeks after recieving approval a massive slowdown in demand occurred and has continued. you couldn't rent a place for under 2000 per week in feb and now there are plenty available for around 500 per week. similarly you couldn't find a house to buy in Jan and now there are over 200 available at around 250k less than in Feb. i really feel sorry for the investors that where caught out but i guess greed overcomes common sense sometimes. i doubt we will ever see these prices again as there has been a change in the dynamics out there, with the majority of people choosing to live somewhere else and commute by car or fly in and out. a shame really as it was a great family town for a long time.
