Queensland still poised for further price growth

Queensland’s housing market continues to maintain its appeal to sellers as it defies the overall downturn being felt in other southern states.

Latest quarterly data from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) showed median price gains of 3.23% for houses and 2.17% for units over the first quarter of the year, setting the stage for continued growth over the succeeding months.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said Queensland’s property market has been “extraordinarily positive” from a seller’s perspective, given its solid gains despite the downturn particularly in the capital cities of neighbouring states.  

“The first quarter of 2022 has been fraught with disruptions such as COVID-19 outbreaks, the flooding disaster, the string of long weekends including the standstill of Easter, the looming Federal election, and signs pointing to an interest rate rise, with some banks adjusting early in anticipation,” she said.

“Despite all of these disruptive events which may have caused some buyers to hit pause on their search, the market has continued to deliver healthy growth, and I’m sure the median prices reached this quarter will take some of us by surprise.”

Brisbane LGA hitting the $1m mark

Data from the quarter showed that houses in Brisbane LGA had a median price of $1.09m over the quarter.

“While this may be sombre news for some, this still represents relative affordability compared to southern states, and arguably our capital city has been long overdue for its time in the sun after years of steady, but modest, growth,” Ms Mercorella said.

“What’s pleasing about the latest results is that, again, it’s not just our capital city performing – our regional centre property markets and communities also continue to benefit from a growth uplift.”

Ms Mercorella said while it can be easy for buyers to be disillusioned and discouraged with these prices, the results indicate the performance of the market only for over a relatively short period of time.

“There are always more affordable options in areas with a million-dollar median – so it’s worth doing your research before assuming an area or suburb is out of your reach,” she said.

Where is Queensland headed?

Ms Mercorella said projections of where Queensland’s property market is headed have not always proven to come to fruition, especially given how it is defying the overall slowdown in Australian housing markets.

“Our state still has all the fundamental ingredients for continued growth – a booming population, very low supply, strong and cashed-up buyer demand, relative affordability and low interest rates,” she said.

“So even as we face more interest rate rises, we expect this will take time to noticeably impact buyer’s pockets and sales prices, and in the meantime, the clear supply shortage will continue to tip the scales in favour of sellers, as buyers compete to secure a property.”

Still, there could still be buyers who might think this is a good time to secure a property while they still can get low fixed rates.

“Certainly, with how incredibly tight the rental market is, transitioning to ownership would be increasingly appealing to renters,” Ms Mercorella said.

“We recognise that at some stage the rate of growth we see in Queensland will start to level and stabilise, simply because it would be difficult to sustain this level of accelerated growth – but for now, there’s still plenty of wind in the sails of Queensland’s property market.”

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