“Owners of houses and units in some of Queensland’s richest markets have pocketed more than $1000 every day over the past year, as startling new figures reveal runaway price growth in a huge majority of suburbs.
But despite surging annual gains, PropTrack’s quarterly home values show market conditions have slowed in some locations as the high interest rate environment impacts borrowing capacity.
Exclusive data shows home prices jumped by more than 40 per cent since last year in the state’s hottest markets, with apartments in Greater Brisbane’s first home buyer heartland of Logan taking the lead. Top unit suburbs included Slacks Creek (up 47 per cent), Woodridge (46 per cent), Waterford West, Edens Landing and Logan Central (all 43 per cent).
Blue-chip Gold Coast suburb Mermaid Beach recorded the biggest dollar increase of $422,397, followed by houses in Clear Island Waters (+$335,387), then units in Tennyson, south Brisbane, up $309,618.
The breakdown shows house and unit prices were up by 10 per cent or more in 85 and 91 per cent of suburbs respectively. Only two area recorded negative annual growth — houses in Healy and Cloncurry in the outback, where prices were down 13 and 10 per cent.
Brendale (Moreton Bay South) recorded gains of 35 per cent to a median of $599,420, trailed by Vincent (Townsville) up 31 per cent, Murgon (Wide Bay) up 30 per cent, while Rockhampton City joined top performers, up 29 per cent to $320,910.
SOLD: $3.4m 16 Seabeach Ave, Mermaid Beach
Spotlighting the last three months, Central Queensland house suburbs streaked ahead, reflecting burgeoning demand for entry-level priced property.
On the flipside, records show quarterly price dips in 84 house or unit markets statewide.
Houses in Brisbane’s well-heeled suburbs of Yeronga, Paddington, St Lucia and Hamilton fell between $54,535 and $75,541, while units in inner city Spring Hill and Brassall (Ipswich) and were down about $50,000.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said Brisbane’s outer suburbs, and particularly the Logan-Beaudesert area, had “absolutely dominated” the year’s list of top performers compared to previous years when lifestyle regions including the Gold and Sunshine Coasts led growth.
“It is historically quite unusual to see units outperform houses, but units are really surging ahead,” Ms Flaherty said.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty says it is unusual for units to outperform houses
Affordability and dwindling supply were key factors behind the shift to units, she said.
“Home prices have moved up very dramatically over the past five years… More people have been priced out of purchasing a house.”
While cost of living pressures and higher interest rates put a dampener on growth since June in some areas, Ms Flaherty forecast continued price hikes, particularly in the greater metro apartment market.
“The speed at which prices are rising has definitely moderated compared to last year, although we have seen a lot of areas with very strong quarterly growth,” she said.
“It is taking people longer to save a deposit to buy a home. Having said that, the market varies a lot by suburb, and I don’t think we are in store for a correction any time soon, purely because the supply of homes is likely to remain below what is required to keep pace with demand and that puts upward pressure on prices.”
A multispeed market has emerged, says Brisbane buyers agent Lauren Jones
Want to read the original article? Head over to RealEstate.com.au now.