Brisbane’s flood disaster has had little immediate effect on the property market with many homes still changing hands. The auction clearance rate in Brisbane has been at least 70% in both of the past two weather-affected weekends. There were ten bidders last weekend for a house in flood-prone Graceville which sold under the hammer for $1.8 million. Ray White auctioneer Gavin Croft says four of the five homes which sold at midweek auctions were in flood-affected suburbs. Another ten properties which went to auction on the weekend sold under the hammer. Croft told REA last week’s results were a real “litmus test” for the market. Place Estate Agents held 35 auctions with bidders encouraged to bid via the phone or on-line to avoid moving around flood-affected roads unnecessarily. Government figures indicate that 15,000 Brisbane homes have been impacted the floods, which represents about 1.7% of the total n`
SEQ Dominates Building Hotspots
Demand for new homes continues to soar, with new building approval figures showing the Greater Brisbane region was the nation’s building hotspot in the last six months of 2021, recording some of the highest home building approvals in Australia. Brisbane had the highest number of approvals, chalking up 4,788 during the last six months of 2021. It was followed by Blackburn west of Sydney with 3,635 approvals, while Melton west of Melbourne with 3,481 approvals was the third busiest market for new homes. The Gold Coast had strong figures with 2,669 approvals, followed by the Moreton Bay region with 2,690 approvals. Logan recorded 2,583 approvals and the Sunshine Coast had 1,687. For the entire year, Logan posted a whopping 8,332 approvals. Its boom suburb in 2021 was Greenbank where there were 1,497 approvals granted. When coupled with the rebuilding work which flows on from the floods, the construction industry in South East Queensland is tipped to be busy for some time.
Quote of the Week
“With Australia’s domestic and international borders now largely reopening, universities returning to in-person lectures and people returning to offices throughout 2022, we expect demand for inner city rentals to continue to lift.”
Cameron Kusher of REA Group’s PropTrack
More Borrowers Switching Lenders
Property owners are shopping around for better finance deals, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealing $14.3 billion worth of refinancing in January. Of that, $9.2 billion was refinancing by owner occupiers with the remaining $5.1 billion from investors. The figures show refinancing levels are 18.7% higher than at the same time in 2021 while a record $181 billion worth of loans were refinanced in 2021. Those considering taking advantage of good rates on offer, will need a loan to value ratio of more than 80%, while for borrowers locked into a fixed interest rate the penalty for breaking that may not make it worthwhile. Most banks will seriously consider requests from current borrowers to match fees offered by other banks, in an effort to keep their customers on their books. Those who do achieve lower interest rates can shave years off their loans and save thousands of dollars in the long run if they maintain the higher level of repayments
Rents Are Rising In All Sectors
Inner city rental markets are bouncing back with the opening of international borders. Cameron Kusher of REA Group’s PropTrack says while inner city units experienced some of the biggest price drops at the start of the pandemic, that is now set to turn around. “With Australia’s domestic and international borders now largely reopening, universities returning to in[1]person lectures and people returning to offices throughout 2022, we expect demand for inner city rentals to continue to lift,” Kusher says. CoreLogic figures show capital cities, regional areas, houses and units all experienced rent rises in the past quarter. Rents are increasing across Australia because vacancy rates have hit a 16-year low, according to Louis Christopher of SQM Research. “All this represents an acute shortage of rental properties,” he says. “And the shortage has already been translating into large surges in weekly rents across the country. It is now very likely market rents will rise by over 10% this year.”
