- Brisbane median house price up nearly 18% in a year
- Median unit price has increased 7% over same period
- Fastest growth period in more than a decade
Twelve short months ago, as coronavirus took hold and societies around the world shut down, with an unprecedented level of fear hanging over us like the darkest storm cloud, there didn’t seem to be much to look forward to.
Now, real estate in southeast Queensland is in the midst of its most exciting and promising period ever.
The sun is shining, confidence is high, there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful, and the mood is one of a bright future.
New data from research firm CoreLogic shows Brisbane’s median house price soared by a staggering 17.7% in the 12 months to July. The median unit price rose by 7% in the same period.
A report by Domain found this exponential growth is the fastest recorded in some 12 years.
Right now, the median house dwelling value is sitting at $675,000 and for units it’s $420,000.
In terms of pockets of the city enjoying frenzied attention, the growth is across the board but the strongest is in the inner-city ring, where median prices are up 30%.
In the city’s north, the increase is almost 20% over the past year, while the west is up 18.9% and the south 17.5%, Domain’s analysis found.
This won’t be a short-lived surge either – new modelling from advisory firm KPMG has plotted a bumper few years ahead, as cities such as Brisbane benefit from a covid-induced ‘turbocharge’.
By December 2023, the analysis forecasts a phenomenal further increase of 20% in median house prices.
A range of growth fundamentals
What’s behind this extraordinary demand for housing in the Queensland capital?
One of the big drivers is an influx of new residents from interstate.
Imagine you’ve just spent the past 18 months in Melbourne or Sydney, in and out of lockdown, restrictions tightening and then easing, living in a state of uncertainty and unease.
Looking north of the border to the Sunshine State, you may have been seething with jealousy.
Thanks to strict infection controls, a rapid response to outbreaks elsewhere in Australia and a low appetite for risk, Queensland has survived relatively unscathed with minimal outbreaks and only a handful short, sharp lockdowns.
For the most part, life there continues as normal.
On top of that, the southeast boasts an unbeatable lifestyle, a more relaxed pace, a perfect year-round climate, and, perhaps most alluring for southerners, a fantastic bang for your housing buck.
When you consider the extremely cheap cost of borrowing at the moment, with record low interest rates and intense competition among the banks for your business, leading to some great deals, it’s a good time to be in the market for a home or investment.
And given many would-be buyers haven’t splurged on overseas holidays or other high-priced leisure activities nearly as much, a lot have healthy savings to play with, too.
Those factors are likely to prevail for the long term – especially the anticipated high population growth from interstate migration.
That’s to say nothing of the explosion in infrastructure spending, urban renewal, new development, and amenity improvement to come from preparations for the 2032 Olympic Games.
