While the Brisbane property market has historically been auction shy, clearance rate data shows it has outperformed Sydney and Melbourne in the past three weeks. Plenty of properties are also selling before they make it to auction day in Brisbane, the latest being a record[1]smashing $12 million sale of an Indooroopilly home. Buyers inundated the listing agent with offers on the six-bedroom home before it was sold, breaking the suburb house price record by almost $6 million. Last week 83% of Brisbane houses taken to auction sold under the hammer, for a total of more than $41 million. Jason Adcock of Adcock Prestige, who sold the Indooroopilly home, says buyers recognised the value in the Brisbane market and says the same home would be worth about $60 million in Sydney. “Brisbane is surging,” he says. “We’ve got state borders opening on December 17 and I’m expecting another massive surge then as well. I’ve sold properties dearer than this but never had this level of interest before.”
Light Rail Stage 3 Starts Soon
Work is expected to start on the $1.1billion, 6.7km light rail extension from Broadbeach to Burleigh on the Gold Coast next year. The third stage of the project is expected to take three years to complete so won’t be ready by the initial 2023 deadline. The third stage of the project will include eight new stations and will terminate at Burleigh Heads. Initial estimates had the cost of construction at $709 million but that has been revised to upwards of $1 billion. The State Government has committed an additional $200 million and the Federal Government another $126 million to ensure the project is completed. Transport Minister Mark Bailey says the infrastructure boom in Queensland is adding to the cost of many construction projects including the light rail. “The red-hot construction market is impacting some projects, but the Government remains fully committed to extending light rail to Burleigh and we look forward to early works completing and heavy work starting next year,” he says
Quote of the Week
“The pandemic has impacted the lives of millions of Australians, particularly with how and where they want to live. What we have seen as a result is flexible working, providing opportunities for people to live wherever they wish.”
NAB’s executive home ownership, Andy Kerr
Pandemic Changes Buying Patterns
The way Australians buy property has changed during the pandemic and two of the big four banks predict the trend will continue. Commonwealth Bank research says younger Australians have worked out they can get around affordability issues by banding together with their mates to buy their first home. It found two-thirds of first-home buyers say the high cost of property has led them to consider pooling resources with friends to get into the market. NAB research found 20% of home buyers now want a property with an area that allows working or studying from home and they are more likely to consider buying in a lifestyle location. NAB’s executive home ownership Andy Kerr says the pandemic has impacted the lives of millions of Australians, particularly with how and where they want to live.“Without the daily commute, people are looking at the suburbs that haven’t been available in the past as a viable option to actually own a piece of land and build a house,” he says
1 In 4 Homes Worth Over $1m
One in four Australian homeowners are now living in a property worth more than $1 million. The housing boom throughout Australia means the value of Australia’s housing stock has increased substantially, according to CoreLogic research. Nationally about 5% of homes are now worth more than $2 million. The research reveals property owners in greater Sydney are now more likely to live in a $1million home, with 52% of homes worth more than $1 million and about 16% of homes now worth $2 million or more. More than a third of homeowners in greater Melbourne now have a property valued at more than $1million. CoreLogic figures show that house prices have surged throughout Australia in the past year by over 20% in some capital cities and many regional markets. Buyer’s agent Rich Harvey says the past two years have been the “perfect economic storm” for property owners with homes for sale down by 30% but a big rise in demand at the same time
Prices Growing Twice As Fast As Wages
Property prices have grown at twice the rate of wages in the past 20 years. CoreLogic figures show that wages have increased 82% in the past 20 years while Australian home values have risen, on average, by 193%. In the past 12 months alone Australian dwelling values have increased by 22%. According to ABS figures the Australian wage price index rose by only 2.2% in the past 12 months. Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Luci Ellis told a parliamentary committee that because of property price increases the most realistic way for many Australians to enter the housing market was now through their parents. The Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue for an inquiry into housing affordability and supply, is currently examining property taxes, regulation and supply issues which are driving up prices. The difference in growth rates is most extreme in Tasmania with property values up by almost 300% in the past 20 years compared with an 84% rise in its state wage price index
