Southeast Qld market finishes year in healthy condition

The Southeast Queensland market finished last year as the strongest major capital city performer, with only a very slight moderation in median price recorded in Brisbane over the year.

This result should be celebrated, considering the headwinds that were flowing into markets across the nation from eight interest rate increases in as many months.

According to CoreLogic, the median value in Brisbane reduced by just 1.1 per cent over the year ending December – a far better result than in Sydney and Melbourne, where prices fell 12.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively, over the year.

Brisbane prices did record a median price moderation of 5.4 per cent over the December quarter, as the flow-on effects of the rising interest rate environment started to impact buyer activity.

However, sales listings in Brisbane remain 19.3 per cent below the same period one year ago, which is underpinning market consistency. The median days on market was 30 days in Brisbane in December, which is still a very solid figure.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Brisbane rental market went from strength to strength over the past year, with median rents soaring by 13.4 per cent – the number one result for any capital city last year. Likewise, gross rental yields in Brisbane are one of the best in the nation at 4.2 per cent.

These rental market metrics have resulted in 33.5 per cent of all new lending being approved to investors in Queensland. The Brisbane rental vacancy rate remains at an extremely low level of just 1.2 per cent, with few signs of the critical undersupply of rental properties changing anytime soon.

Sunshine Coast remains robust

It’s clear that the attraction of Sunshine Coast real estate rode the wave of market change last year.

According to SQM Research, asking prices for Sunshine Coast houses remain about 10 per cent higher than a year with unit asking prices up an impressive 23 per cent.

As well as the plethora of Sunshine Coast attributes, part of the reason for its continued solid performance is the fact that listings remain constrained compared to 2021, which was a boom price year for the coast.

The Sunshine Coast rental market, similar to Brisbane, continues to be significantly impacted by a lack of supply with weekly rents soaring by nearly 12 per cent for houses and nearly 13 per cent for units over the past year.

The Sunshine Coast vacancy rate is currently just one per cent – a sign of a critical undersupply of rental properties. In fact, there are currently just 921 rental properties available for rent on the coast – a tiny number when we consider that hundreds of thousands of people live in the region.

The strong growth in rents over the past year has pushed gross rental yields on the Sunshine Coast to 4.2 per cent for houses and 4.7 per cent for units.

As these market metrics show, the southeast region’s property market remains healthy, with a solid increase in enquiry and open home attendance underway.

This is likely due to buyers recognising that we are potentially near the peak of the current rising interest rate cycle with plenty of good buying opportunities also currently available.

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