As we entered 2022, there seemed to be a slightly different feel to the market; while there’s still strong activity, it feels more restrained than the previous six months, where it was white-hot. Even after the major flooding event this month, it seems to be having little effect on the property market up here.

Market Overview

We see that prices are easing off in Sydney and Melbourne. Well, that’s not the trend up here. While easing slightly on last year’s growth Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast property markets are still powering along, with many suburbs achieving current monthly price growth between 1-2%.

Here are some broad numbers to illustrate the current housing markets. There are markets within markets and too many to list below, so feel free to contact us if you want more information on a specific location.

Brisbane

Stock on Market
Feb 2019 32,000
Feb 2021 24,500
Feb 2022 16,800

Weekly Asking Price
Detached dwellings up 30.6%
Feb 2021 $663,000
Feb 2022 $866,000

Vacancy Rate
Feb 2021 1.5%
Feb 2022 0.9%

Asking Rents
Detached dwellings up 17.3%
Feb 2021 $478pw
Feb 2022 $561pw

Sunshine Coast

Stock on Market
Feb 2019 9,199
Feb 2021 6,154
Feb 2022 5,230

Weekly Asking Price
Detached dwellings up 30.4%
Feb 2021 $628,000
Feb 2022 $819,000

Vacancy Rate
Feb 2021 0.5%,
Feb 2022 0.5%

Asking Rents
Detached dwellings up 17.3%
Feb 2021 $478pw
Feb 2022 $561pw

The figures above are courtesy of SQM Research.

Rental Crisis

We are currently in the middle of a rental crisis on the property investment side of things. It’s a perfect storm; we have had years where investors have been targeted at almost every federal budget, charged higher interest rates, had their loans stress tested and scrutinised beyond belief. Then we have had strong intrastate migration over the last couple of years, which has squeezed the market even further. Then, compounding the situation, we sadly had thousands of houses destroyed in floods this month, and many of these flood victims also have nowhere to rent. So what will happen when migration and overseas students start returning in numbers?

The REIQ is running a program to try and convert short-term rentals like AirBNB’s to long-term rentals to quickly bring new rentals to the market. So perhaps a quick and helpful incentive would be to return the depreciation changes removed in the 2017 budget for long term rentals. Either way, something needs to be done urgently, and it will be interesting to see what policies the major political parties come up with at the election.

With the budget announced tonight, there will undoubtedly be a few sweeteners for 1st homebuyers and retirees; however, with the election so close, I doubt they will offer anything substantive to help resolve the current issues the market is facing.

If you would like to arrange a time for an obligation free discussion about your property plans in Brisbane or The Sunshine Coast you can access my calendar HERE