Home sweet home: Brisbane’s median house price just cracked $1 million
Brisbane’s median house price has cracked the $1 million level and the market is still climbing with the Real Estate Institute analysis showing growth of 3.23 per cent for the first quarter of the year.
Home lending has improved in Queensland
The REIQ said the Brisbane local government area median house price grew 5.31 per cent over the quarter to a new high of $1,090,000.
When looking at the median over a 12-month period it dips to six figures at $950,000, which still represents an impressive 25.83 per cent increase compared to the year prior.
Noosa had huge growth in the March quarter with the median price jumping 15 per cent to $1.5 million.
Its growth for the past year has been 38 per cent while the Sunshine Coast is not far behind with a median price in the quarter of $990,000 and growth of 30 per cent for the year.
While quarterly growth figures can be distorted by a number of a high-end sales, Brisbane’s median price over the 12-month period was still a high of $950,000.
Brisbane suburbs joining the million-dollar median house club based on sales in the quarter alone include Parkinson, Sunnybank, Mount Gravatt East, and Upper Mount Gravatt on the south side, and Upper Kedron, McDowall, Stafford, and Stafford Heights on the north side.
Mackay was the only major centre to show a fall in the quarter with the median price dropping 2.3 per cent to $425,000.
Unit prices in Queensland jumped 2.17 per cent in the quarter and REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella believed the current market would continue to surprise.
“Over the past two years, the story of Queensland’s property market has been an extraordinarily positive one from a seller’s perspective, and the latest quarterly data tells us the Sunshine State market is still a rising star,” Ms Mercorella said.
“The first quarter of 2022 has been fraught with disruptions such as COVID-19 outbreaks, the flooding disaster, the string of long weekends including the standstill of Easter, the looming Federal election, and signs pointing to an interest rate rise, with some banks adjusting early in anticipation.
“Despite all of these disruptive events which may have caused some buyers to hit pause on their search, the market has continued to deliver healthy growth, and I’m sure the median prices reached this quarter will take some of us by surprise.”
She said the Brisbane median price may be considered sombre news for some the city was still relatively affordable compared with NSW and Victoria.
“Of course, it can be easy to be disillusioned and discouraged as a buyer watching these prices reach new heights, but it’s important to remember these are median sales figures over a relatively short period of time and there are always more affordable options in areas with a million-dollar median – so it’s worth doing your research before assuming an area or suburb is out of your reach.”
“Our state still has all the fundamental ingredients for continued growth – a booming population, very low supply, strong and cashed-up buyer demand, relative affordability and low interest rates,” she said.
“We recognise that at some stage the rate of growth we see in Queensland will start to level and stabilise, simply because it would be difficult to sustain this level of accelerated growth – but for now, there’s still plenty of wind in the sails of Queensland’s property market.”
Regional centres were still comparatively affordable. Ipswich has a median price of $500,000, Rockhampton $330,000, Townsville $390,000, Bundaberg $400,000, Gladstone ($405,000and Toowoomba $480,000.
The median number of days houses remained on market in Queensland has dropped by just over a week (8 days) in the last 12 months, now sitting at just 16 days from the first advertised date through to contract date.
The most expensive unit medians were reached in the coastal tourism centres of Noosa $977,000, Sunshine Coast $646,000 and the Gold Coast $575,000, whereas more affordable units were still to be found in regional centres with quarterly median unit prices comfortably under $300,000 in Mackay, Bundaberg, Cairns, Townsville, and Gladstone.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures today showing a sharp drop in the number of new housing commitments in April. It fell 6.4 per cent.
The figure relates to the bank finance commitments for home lending.
Queensland was down 2.4 per cent.