Rents in Regional Queensland are surging, led by big increases in the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast markets. The Sunshine Coast median rent value grew 17.8% to $621 in the year to June, while the Gold Coast was up 13.8% to $600. “Regional Australian rental markets have generally outperformed the capital cities, rising 11.3% over the year compared with 5% in capital city rents,” says CoreLogic’s Eliza Owen. “Some of the highest growth has occurred in lifestyle markets.” Rent rises have been relatively subdued in Brisbane to date, but Propertyology’s Simon Pressley is warning of a rental squeeze. He says rents for Brisbane houses may rise by as much as $5,000 per annum. “At the end of June 2021, there were only 4,520 dwellings advertised across Greater Brisbane a massive reduction from 9,222 five years’ earlier when 230,000 fewer people lived in Brisbane,” he says
Lockdown Southerners Target Coast
With Sydney approaching two months of lockdown and Melbourne on its sixth stay-at-home order, Gold Coast agents have been fielding calls from southern buyers looking to head north. Tolemy Stevens of Harcourts Coastal says Sydney buyers in lockdown will follow the same pattern as their Melbourne counterparts through their extended lockdown last year. While the first wave of buyers to the Gold Coast were more desperate and willing to buy sight unseen, the second wave were more considered but determined to purchase once restrictions were lifted. “We are almost in a mirrored scenario to how the Melbourne lockdown played out here,” he says. “When there is a lockdown, we put our phones on charge because we know they won’t stop ringing.” Ray White Queensland chief Jason Andrew says the high level of interstate migration to the Sunshine State is unlikely to slow. “Sydney and Melbourne buyers are aspirationally looking at property,” Andrew says, adding that once restrictions lift down south a lot of people will finalise their affairs and head north.
Quote of the Week
We’ll be looking to do a 10- to 20-minute mortgage, and that will be a huge opportunity for more Australians to take advantage of locking in great rates by refinancing more easily.”
Angus Sullivan, Commonwealth Bank
Lenders Offer Incentives To Refinance
With demand for properties continuing to grow, lenders are competing to snare a piece of the action, including the demand for refinancing. Owner-occupier refinancing has more than doubled compared with two years ago, with the total value of refinancing during June exceeding $16 billion. The increased competition has lenders offering interest rates below 2%, as well as cash bonuses and incentives worth up to $5,000. ING Bank and ME Bank, which recently merged with the Bank of Queensland, are offering cash incentives of up to $3,000 for refinancers as well as fixed interest rates from 1.89%. RateCity research director Sally Tindall says the current interest rates on offer are highly competitive and can save home-owners thousands in just a few years. “A $1 million principal and interest borrower on the average rate of 3.07% who refinanced to the lowest two-year fixed rate of 1.79% could save up to $25,057 in two years,” she says
Lenders Offer Digital Home Loans
With lockdowns continuing and more people working from home than ever before, it’s a natural progression for borrowers to apply for home loans online. Commonwealth Bank is the latest to launch the option of fully[1]digital home loans which it says can be approved in as little as 10 minutes, depending on property value and type. CBA’s Angus Sullivan predicts the current low fixed interest rates on offer by most lenders will result in a strong Spring auction season. There are a number of smaller players already offering digital home loans including Nano, Athena Home Loans and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank-backed Tic:Toc . Nano chalked up $100-million worth of approved loans within the first month of its launch earlier this year, with 80% of applications from borrowers who had been with traditional lenders previously. CEO Andrew Walker says people have shifted to technology driven borrowing during the pandemic
