Storms in Sydney delayed HIA chief economist Harley Dale’s flight and cloud cover on the Sunshine Coast delayed the landing. Yet through the gloom there are a lot of bright patches – especially on the Sunshine Coast.

It’s as different as chalk and cheese between Queensland and New South Wales, Mr Dale told the final Boardroom Lunch at Montego’s on the Bay for 2007.

Here, there is a very strong economy and housing sector. In Sydney, housing is in recession.

There are still challenges here – mainly the shortage of skilled labour in the building industry and housing affordability. They will not fix themselves overnight, Mr Dale said, but it is a lot healthier than Sydney.

The data at the moment shows Queensland has the strongest economy and the strongest housing in Australia. And the Sunshine Coast is even doing better than the state as a whole.

“The market here is in far better shape than most areas of Australia, including Western Australia which has priced itself out of the market,’’ Mr Dale said.

“Of the two resource-rich states one is continuing to go up while the other is starting to stutter.

“The Sunshine Coast is a very vibrant part of Australia and will continue to be for the next few years. At every barbecue I go to people ask about interest rates, if they will go up. And house prices.

“Anyone who stands up now and says what will happen is ... well let me just say it’s the most uncertain global environment in 10 years.’’

The most likely outcome is rates will rise in Australia, he said, while falling elsewhere – the US, Canada, the UK.

“The big cloud is the sub-prime market,’’ he said. “It’s in an enormous mess and the uncertainty in the US is likely to be with us for another six to 12 months.

“Australia is relatively immune from it ... though it’s not transparent as to which financial institutions are exposed to the risk.’’

Sunshine Coast housing approvals are on the way up because everyone wants to live here. There are good employment prospects, with the region’s unemployment rate below the state average at a time when Queensland leads the nation for job growth.

Mr Dale was glad to see some commitment from the new Rudd Government towards doing something about housing affordability.

“There is no one solution. There is an acute lack of stock which is bringing pressure on rents.

“We have got to look at better ways of releasing land and building infrastructure. Any encouragement for people to save for a home is a good way of bridging the gap.’’

On that note, may we wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.