Mount Isa · Cloncurry · Julia Creek · Richmond · Hughenden
A buyers agent in North West Queensland.
Some of the highest yields in Queensland sit out here, and so does the highest employment concentration we record anywhere. Both facts belong in the decision. Coppick Property Advisory acts for buyers here — and only for buyers.
Yes, Coppick Property Advisory works in North West Queensland. Ryan Coppick is a Licensed Real Estate Agent in Queensland, licence 4961592, based inland at Charters Towers on the Flinders Highway and covering Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Richmond and Hughenden.
We act for the buyer only — never sellers, never developers. No commission is accepted from any agent, seller, broker or developer, and no referral fee is paid or received in either direction. Fees are flat and agreed in writing before any work begins.
Mount Isa and Cloncurry by the numbers.
Structural figures, not market snapshots. Census data does not move between quarters the way a median does, which is why it is what appears here.
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Isa — population | 18,727 | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — median age | 31 years | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — households renting | 45.4% | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — households owned outright | 16.4% | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — copper ore mining | 16.9% of workers | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — silver, lead and zinc ore mining | 9.0% of workers | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — metal ore mining combined | 25.9% of workers | ABS Census 2021 |
| Mount Isa — dwellings unoccupied on Census night | 18.2% | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — population | 3,644 | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — median age | 34 years | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — households renting | 43.1% | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — beef cattle farming | 12.8% of workers | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — copper ore mining | 10.3% of workers | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — all metal ore mining and mining support | 21.7% of workers | ABS Census 2021 |
| Cloncurry — dwellings unoccupied | 22.1% | ABS Census 2021 |
We do not publish current median prices, vacancy rates or yields on this page. Those figures move, they differ depending on whether the geography is a suburb, postcode or statistical area, and published sources frequently disagree with each other by a wide margin. Current numbers for a specific suburb are what the research work produces — the method is set out here.
What actually drives the North West market.
A quarter of the workforce, in one thing.
At the 2021 Census copper ore mining employed 16.9% of the Mount Isa workforce and silver, lead and zinc ore mining a further 9.0% — 25.9% in metal ore mining alone. That is the highest concentration of any market we write about, ahead of sugar around Ingham at 19.6% and well ahead of coal at Mackay. Hospitals came third at 5.5%. In a city like Brisbane no single decision can move the housing market. Here, one can.
And that number is now out of date in a way that matters.
Glencore closed its underground copper mines at Mount Isa in July 2025, with around 500 roles made redundant, ending more than sixty years of copper mining in the city. The copper smelter has since been operating on third-party concentrate, and its longer-term future has been the subject of public discussion about government support and further capital investment. Zinc, lead and silver operations continue. So the 16.9% recorded in 2021 describes a workforce that has substantially changed since. This is the rare case where the Census tells you about a city that no longer entirely exists, and anyone buying here needs to ask what the employment base is now rather than at the last count.
A young, renting, mobile population.
In Mount Isa the median age is 31, the youngest of anywhere we cover. 45.4% of Mount Isa households rent, the highest share. Only 16.4% own outright, the lowest. And 18.2% of Mount Isa dwellings were unoccupied on Census night. That is the profile of a working town where people arrive for a job and leave when it ends, and it is why the rental market here moves faster in both directions than anywhere on the coast.
The yield is the compensation, not the bargain.
North West Queensland has long produced rental yields far above the coast, and that is exactly why it attracts investors screening from a distance. A market paying you more is telling you something. The yield is priced for the risk that the employment base changes, and in 2025 that risk stopped being theoretical. None of this means Mount Isa is unbuyable. It means the only sensible test is whether the purchase still works if the rent falls and the property takes a long time to sell.
Cloncurry: cattle first, then copper.
This is the detail that separates Cloncurry from Mount Isa, and it runs against what most people assume about a North West town. At the 2021 Census the largest employer in the Cloncurry shire was beef cattle farming at 12.8% of workers — ahead of copper ore mining at 10.3%. Add silver, lead and zinc ore mining at 7.4% and other mining support services at 4.0%, and mining and mining support together reach 21.7%. So it is genuinely a mining town, but it is a cattle town first, and cattle does not close when a shaft does. That gives Cloncurry a second leg to stand on that Mount Isa, at 25.9% in metal ore mining alone, does not have.
But Cloncurry is very small, and one dwelling in five sits empty.
The shire had a population of 3,644 and 22.1% of private dwellings were unoccupied on Census night. Only 41.2% of households owned their home at all, with 43.1% renting and a median age of 34 — the profile of a working town people move to for a job. For a buyer, the diversification is the good news and the size is the warning. In a market this small there may be a handful of genuine comparable sales in a year, valuations are correspondingly hard to support, some lenders apply tighter policy or decline the postcode outright, and a sale can take a long time because the buyer pool is genuinely tiny.
The rest of the North West is smaller again.
Julia Creek, Richmond, Hughenden and Camooweal are service centres for pastoral country, some numbering in the hundreds. Everything said above about thin comparable sales, lender caution and slow exits applies to them more strongly, not less. Living there can make complete sense. Investing there has to answer the exit question before the entry one.
What we watch for in the North West.
- What the employment base is today, not in 2021. Which operations are running, who is hiring, and what the announced plans are for the smelter and the surrounding mines.
- Whether the purchase survives a material fall in rent. If it only works at today's yield, it does not work.
- Who the tenant is and who they work for. In a town this concentrated, tenant risk and town risk are the same risk.
- Lender policy on the postcode. Some lenders cap the loan-to-value ratio or decline mining towns outright, which can change your deposit or the deal.
- Time on market for genuine comparable sales, not asking prices. In a thin market the gap between the two can be enormous.
- In Cloncurry, whether the tenant depends on a mine or on a station. The two respond to completely different things, and only one of them is exposed to a commodity price.
- How you would exit. Ask who the next buyer is before you become the current one.
- Buying unseen from interstate is common here and is where most of the avoidable mistakes happen.
What it costs.
Flat fees. Not a percentage of what you pay for the property, so there is no mechanism by which we benefit from you spending more.
Fifteen minutes. Whether we are the right fit, and whether you need us at all.
Where to buy and why, with the data behind it. You can act on it yourself afterwards.
Search, assess, inspect, negotiate and settle. End to end.
Where we work.
Coppick Property Advisory holds a Queensland real estate licence and works on Queensland property. Within that, these are the markets we know best.
Worth reading first.
Two short guides from our library that do the most for North West buyers: how to find what a property actually sold for (the list price is a marketing number), and who the agent at the open home really works for. When you are ready to cost a purchase, the Queensland stamp duty calculator has the full 2026 rate table. And before you sign with anyone — including us — run them through the ten questions to ask any buyers agent.
Common questions.
Does Coppick Property Advisory work in Mount Isa and North West Queensland?
Yes. Coppick Property Advisory is a licensed Queensland buyers agency (QLD Real Estate Licence 4961592) and North West Queensland, including Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Richmond and Hughenden, is within its service area.
Is the high rental yield in Mount Isa a good reason to buy there?
A high yield is compensation for risk, not a discount. Mount Isa has long produced yields well above the Queensland coast because the market carries concentration risk that coastal cities do not. At the 2021 Census 16.9% of the Mount Isa workforce was employed in copper ore mining and a further 9.0% in silver, lead and zinc ore mining — 25.9% in metal ore mining alone. A market that pays you more is telling you something. The question is never what the yield is today, but whether you can hold the property comfortably if the employment base changes.
How has the closure of the Mount Isa copper mines affected the property market?
It is the single most important thing to understand before buying here, and it means the Census figures need reading with care. Glencore closed its underground copper mines at Mount Isa in July 2025, with around 500 roles made redundant. The copper smelter has since been operating on third-party concentrate and its longer-term future has been the subject of public discussion about government support and further investment. Zinc, lead and silver operations continue. So the 16.9% copper mining employment share recorded in 2021 describes a workforce that has substantially changed. Anyone assessing Mount Isa needs to ask what the employment base is now, not what it was at the last Census.
Is Cloncurry just a smaller Mount Isa?
No, and the difference matters. At the 2021 Census the largest employer in the Cloncurry shire was beef cattle farming at 12.8% of workers, ahead of copper ore mining at 10.3%. Mining and mining support together reached 21.7%, so it is genuinely a mining district — but cattle is the larger single employer, and cattle does not close when a shaft does. Mount Isa, by contrast, had 25.9% of its workforce in metal ore mining alone. Cloncurry has a second leg to stand on. What it does not have is size: a population of 3,644 and 22.1% of dwellings unoccupied on Census night mean very few comparable sales, cautious lenders and a slow exit.
What about the smaller North West towns like Julia Creek and Hughenden?
They are very small markets and should be assessed as such. In towns of a few hundred to a few thousand people, there may be only a handful of comparable sales in a year, which makes valuation difficult to support, causes some lenders to apply tighter policy or decline outright, and can mean a long wait to sell. Owning a home in these towns can make complete sense. An investment case has to clear a much higher bar than a headline yield, and the exit needs to be thought through before the entry.
Do you take commission from selling agents or developers?
No. Coppick accepts no commission, kickback or referral fee from sellers, developers, agents, brokers or any other party, in either direction. The buyer is the only party who pays, which is what keeps the advice independent.
Will you tell me not to buy?
Yes, and we will. A recommendation to walk away is a legitimate outcome of the work. An agency paid a percentage of the purchase price has a structural reason to find a reason to buy. A flat fee removes that.
Start with the free call.
Fifteen minutes, no obligation, and a genuine answer about whether you need a buyers agent at all. Sometimes the answer is no, and saying so is part of the job.