Queensland leading the way in Australia’s recovering housing market

Following the recent federal election results and the Reserve Bank’s back-to-back record cuts, demand in Australia’s housing market is finally seeing a much-needed boost.

Melbourne and Sydney have been among the hardest hit of late, but both are seeing clearance rates in premium suburbs returning to healthier levels. But Brisbane and Mackay in Queensland are leading the road to recovery according to the most recent report by REA Group.

“Over-supply of apartments in Brisbane had the potential to derail Australia’s financial stability, however, not only did Brisbane weather the downturn very well, it is the first capital city to see positive growth in June,” REA Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said.

“There is also greater positivity in the market as a result of a new airport runway and casino.”

The government’s recent investments, including the Cross River Rail and the Metro project, appear to be spearheading the reason for higher demand. Just last month the Queensland budget announced almost $13 billion in capital works programs to support 40,500 jobs.

“While there is a clear affordability edge in South-East Queensland compared to Sydney, it is jobs that are making the move possible,” Conisbee added. “The upswing is also extending to regional areas, with Mackay seeing the strongest price growth of any region in Australia over the past 12 months, and many smaller mining towns are roaring ahead.”

The report also noted that continued migration from NSW to Queensland was another reason behind the upswing in the sunshine state.

“While there is a clear affordability edge in southeast Queensland compared to Sydney, it is jobs that are making the move possible.”

The biggest improvements are being seen in the apartment market, which witnessed a 0.7 per cent jump quarter-on-quarter. Rainbow Bay, Wilston, and Currumbin occupy the top three most in-demand suburbs for apartments, but much of the interest was focused on the southeast corner of the state.

Of the top 10 suburbs, six were on the Gold Coast, two on the Sunshine Coast and two in Brisbane. But the unique factor behind Queensland’s capital upturn appears to be shore property seekers.

“Chinese buyers are gone but property seekers from India have more than doubled over the past 12 months, perhaps suggesting that Indian-born buyers may begin to have as big an influence on house and land sales as they have had in Melbourne and Sydney.”