Property: The Qld regions among top price growth performers
PROPERTY prices in regional Queensland recorded the second-highest growth in Australia last month, and while they are down from their peak, median values are still 47.1 per cent higher than March 2020.
The combined median house price in regional Queensland, which includes all regions including the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, is now $606,000, just $110,000 less than the Brisbane house median.
Median house values on the Gold Coast rose by 0.15% over the last quarter.
The PropTrack house price index for January shows Queensland’s top performing locations over the past quarter were all in the regions, with the Darling Downs recording the biggest growth in house values, up 2.81 per cent in the past three months and 10.78 per cent over the year.
This was followed by the Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday region (+1.21% qoq, +5.73% yy), Toowoomba (+0.22%, 8.58%), Gold Coast (+0.15% , 1.72%), Townsville (+0.1%, 4.19%) and Central Queensland (+0.01%, +3.53%).
Quarterly growth vs annual growth across Qld
Brisbane South was the only metro market to record price growth over the same quarter, up 0.08 per cent, but it was down 2.85 per cent over the year.
Every other major SA4 region recorded a fall in value over the quarter, the data shows, but most were still up on the year, with the exception of Moreton Bay South (-2.02%), Brisbane West (-3.16 %), Brisbane Inner City (-0.65%), Brisbane North (-4.7%) and the Sunshine Coast (-4.36%).
But this chart shows just how far property values have to fall to get back in line with pre-pandemic prices.
Price drops are seriously offset by the value increases during the boom. PropTrack
Since the peak of the pandemic property boom, Brisbane residential prices, which include both houses and units, have fallen 3.76 per cent since their peak last year, according to the PropTrack report.
“House prices fell at the fastest pace in more than a decade in Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart,” the report said.
Another report, released by CoreLogic this week, also found that house prices in Brisbane fell at their fastest pace and rate in its history, but remained 28 per cent higher than they were in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
But this is still just a drop in the bucket after values soared by 42.1 per cent in Brisbane and 47.1 per cent in regional Queensland during the boom.
Meanwhile, Brisbane values have fallen at the fastest pace in more than a decade, although they are still streets ahead of where they were in early 2020. Photo: istock
The PropTrack analysis shows that Sunshine Coast property values fell by 4.36 per cent over 12 months, while other major regions showed positive growth over the same period.
But the Sunshine Coast was arguably the hottest market during the boom, with a number of uber-rich snapping up properties for more than $10 million.
Cairns values are up 6.11 per cent in a year, although down 0.73 per cent over the quarter.
In Townsville, average dwelling values were up 4.1 per cent over the year and 0.1 per cent during the last quarter, while Gold Coast values rose 1.72 per cent and 0.15 per cent over the same periods.
The report noted that regional home values nationally held up “better than capital cities”, falling just 0.3 per cent in January to 0.32 per cent above the peak.
Combined capital residence medians, in contrast, fell 0.11 percent in January to sit 4.68 percent below the peak.
PropTrack senior economist and report author Eleanor Creagh said national home prices fell for the 10th straight month, but added that the worst of the downturn appeared to be over.
“The rapid pace of price declines seen in June and July 2022 when interest rates first started to rise has slowed and price declines have moderated in most capital cities in recent months,” she said.
“National home price declines also slowed, falling just 0.09 percent in January 2023.”
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PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh
But with another rate hike looming when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets next week, some sellers are being forced to meet the market, with borrowing capacity also in a nose dive.
Canstar analysis shows that another 0.25 percentage point rise would wipe out $143,000 of the average borrower’s capacity in 10 months.
The sellers of 8 Caryota Court, Dundowran Beach, knocked $50,000 off their initial asking price to “meet the market”.
Since April last year, a single income borrower has seen their capacity reduced from $568,000 to $435,000, a total loss of $133,000, while those on dual incomes have seen their borrowing power drop by $306,000 over the same period, from $1.3 million to $1.3 million. $1 million.
9 Seahawk Crescent, Burleigh Waters, has been reduced in price
“For years, first home buyers have struggled to raise a sufficient deposit to buy in the housing market,” said Canstar financial expert Steve Mickenbecker.
“Just when the softening of property prices eased this burden somewhat, higher interest rates and repayments have now become the major obstacle.”
41 The Passage, Pelican Waters, is now on the market for $1.43m+ after being reduced in price
The official cash rate currently stands at 3.1 percent, up from a historic low of 0.1 percent in April last year.
