A surge in first home buyers is set to fuel house price hikes, with the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) tipping property values will “increase dramatically” in 2021.
Key points:
- Real Estate Institute Queensland expects Gold Coast property prices to “increase dramatically” in 2021
- Gold Coast suburb of Clear Island Waters, values have jumped 11.3 per cent year-on-year
- Home loans for first home buyers across Queensland skyrocketed 41 per cent in September
It follows a 40 per cent surge in first home buyers entering the Queensland property market in September and predictions of a nationwide property boom.
REIQ corporate affairs manager Olivier Bleylock said suggestions of a 25 per cent increase in interstate migration to Queensland next year would put further upward pressure on the cost of housing.
“The Gold Coast has seen an annual growth of 3.2 per cent year on year for housing,” Mr Bleylock said.
“For units, it’s been a little bit more mild at 1.8 per cent but we’re still seeing some steady growth.”
First home buyers ‘out in force’
Some Gold Coast suburbs have recorded bigger price hikes with values in Arundel increasing 5 per cent and Broadbeach Waters 7.2 per cent.
The average price for a home on the Gold Coast is now $640,000 and for a unit it is $420,000.(ABC Gold Coast Dominic Cansdale)
“Clear Island Waters — that reached the highest at 11.3 per cent which is quite significant,” Mr Bleylock said.
“We’re also expecting prices to continue to rise probably a lot more than what they are at the moment.”
The REIQ said the appetite for Queensland property had ramped up in recent months with a frenzy of activity from first home buyers across the state.
“What we’re seeing is first home buyers are really coming out in force.
“We’re also seeing with interstate migration is there’s been an 18 per cent increase from February through to August this year and that’s primarily coming from NSW and Victoria.”
The Gold Coast is becoming a very popular destination in the ‘work from home’ COVID-19 era(ABC News: Sarah Motherwell)
Property analyst Terry Ryder said first home buyers were the most active they had been in a decade.
“I would argue there’s never been a better time to be a first home buyer in Australia, provided you have secure employment.
“Interest rates have never been lower and the level of government assistance for first home buyers has never been higher.
“In years gone by first home buyers were often competing with investors for the same property but that’s not so much the case.
“Despite all the buoyancy in the market, investors are largely sitting on the fence.”
Nationwide property boom
Mr Ryder believed Australia was heading into a nationwide property boom with strong markets across the nation but especially in regional areas.
“I think also the trend of expats wanting to get the hell out of wherever they are in Europe, where the virus is just out of control and come back to Australia.
“Expats are coming back in large numbers, hundreds of thousands of them have already returned.”
Broadbeach real estate agent Troy Fitzgerald believed a lack of stock was also driving prices higher.
“It’s actually quite nuts at the moment,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“Especially in the southern market, like anywhere between Mermaid down to Tugun and Bilinga — so all the way along the coastline.”
Exceptionally tight vacancy rates
The REIQ predicts the relaxation of border restrictions will make it even harder to find a rental property on the Gold Coast.
The current vacancy rate was 1.6 per cent but it was even lower in southern suburbs.
Mr Bleylock said Palm Beach tenants were facing a serious rental property shortage with a vacancy rate of 0.2 per cent and in Miami it’s 0.4 per cent.
“Vacancy rates will remain as tight as they are,” he said.
Article Source: abc.net.au
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