MACKAY is ground zero for the national mining bust as unemployment hits double figures and a mass exodus crashes the real estate market.

The city, 950km north of Brisbane, has weathered the fallout from depressed coal prices since late 2012, but a leap in unemployment, from 6 per cent in December to 10.3 per cent in January, has crystallised the severity of the district’s economic collapse.

Fitch ratings has identified a problem with mortgage delinquencies while an RP data report showed nearly 38 per cent of houses sold in the last quarter reported a financial loss for the vendor.

media_camera Mackay’s boom has slowed dramatically as unemployment hits double figures.

Up to 60 per cent of businesses experienced a drop in business and real estate agents had a backlog of more than 3000 houses on their books.

The Mackay-based federal member for Dawson, George Christensen, whose family has lived in the district for four generations, said the once-prosperous sugar town faced challenges as thousands looked elsewhere for jobs.

“I say we have some serious issues to deal with, but I also know there is light at the end of this tunnel,’’ he said.

media_camera The hustle and bustle in Mackay town centre has quietened.

Chamber of Commerce president Tim Miles said there were opportunities in the “silicon valley’’ mining engineering precinct of Paget, just south of the city.

Mr Miles said unemployment wound back slightly to 9.6 per cent in February and, out of around 170 businesses informally surveyed in December, most were getting by on slimmer profit margins after undergoing modest cost restructuring.