Brisbane’s housing market leads the nation as only city to record home value growth

BRISBANE’S housing market is leading the nation, with the city the only major state capital to see home values grow this month.

Plummeting home prices in Sydney and Melbourne have dragged the national market into the biggest slump since the start of the global financial crisis, but the Queensland capital continues to defy the downturn.

Preliminary figures from CoreLogic’s Hedonic Home Value Index show Brisbane was the only major capital to record growth in prices over November — albeit a modest 0.1 per cent.

Annual growth was expected to hit 0.2 per cent by month-end.

It’s the second month in a row that Brisbane has recorded growth in home values at a time when every other major state capital either remained stagnant or went backwards.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said Brisbane was proving more resilient to the downturn because its home prices had never climbed as high and its recent growth was at a more sustainable level.

Brisbane’s more affordable prices relative to Sydney and Melbourne were helping prop up that market and it was arguably the country’s most stable market, according to Mr Lawless.

Better affordability also meant Brisbane was not as exposed to the current lending climate, where banks were becoming increasingly restrictive in giving out new loans.

“There has been strong migration into southeast Queensland, especially from NSW,” Mr Lawless said.

“Housing is much more affordable than in Sydney and Melbourne and that’s increasing demand for housing.

“In many ways, Brisbane has underperformed in the last decade, but that’s actually made the market more sustainable.”

The CoreLogic preliminary figures reveal national property prices fell 0.9 per cent over the first 28 days of November.

This would push total falls for the year to an estimated 5.6 per cent — the largest national drop in prices since December 2008.

Sydney recorded the biggest price falls of all the country’s five major capitals, followed by Melbourne and Perth.

“Queensland residential real estate is presenting an unbeatable buying opportunity for savvy property-watchers and what we’re seeing here is buyers who know what they want and are acting quickly to grab a good bargain.

Blambles Finance Group director Campbell Gordon said it was important to realise the national figures were skewed towards the nation’s two biggest housing markets.

Mr Gordon said his clients were finding good buying opportunities in the current Brisbane market because of its relative affordability compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

According to CoreLogic, Brisbane has a median house price of $538,000 — still significantly less than Sydney’s $980,000 and Melbourne’s $750,000, despite the price falls in those two cities.

He said the local economy, improving employment and infrastructure spending was luring southerners north.

“We lagged Sydney for a long time, but now we’re actually spending a bit of money on infrastructure and it’s drawing more people here,” Mr Gordon said.

“Financing conditions are tough and so we’re not going to see any massive price growth in the short term, but hopefully in the medium term things might turn around and I think they will.”

Universal Buyers Agents director Darren Piper said the signs of recovery in the Brisbane apartment market was instilling confidence in investors.

Mr Piper said he experienced one of his biggest months on record in October and was confident of seeing further lifts throughout the rest of the year.

“We’re seeing a lot of buyers attracted by the lifestyle, great schools, weather — and prices of course,” Mr Piper said.

“There’s also a renewed confidence in the market, so we’re seeing more people upgrading that we haven’t seen for the last 12 months.

“They’re more confident that their home will sell and see the opportunities elsewhere in the market.”

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said tighter credit, rising supply, a significant pool of borrowers having to switch from interest-only to principle and interest mortgages and reduced foreign demand were weighing on the overall market.

Mr Oliver said AMP expected Sydney and Melbourne to record 20 per cent top to bottom house price declines out to 2020.

The CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index is set for release on Monday.

Full Article: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/brisbanes-housing-market-leads-the-nation-as-only-city-to-record-home-value-growth/