Residz Team 2 min read
Real estate pricing is all about perspective.
For someone who’s grown up in Brisbane, booming prices in the city must seem staggering. Certainly, the city has seen the highest annual growth rate of all Australia’s capital cities, with housing values reportedly up 29.2% in the latest CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index. That equates to a lift of $444 per day, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Our Brisbane resident marvels that a 3-bedroom home in their city might be worth more than the median price of over $800,000. They remember back to 2003, when the median price for the city was $249,000. At the time, that must have seemed a lot.
For a Sydneysider used to eye-popping prices, Brisbane is a bargain, a first home buyer opportunity and an investor’s dream. With Sydney’s median house price now over $1.39 million (and rising) there are far fewer houses available for under $700,000. To get within cooee of the harbour city at that price, you’d buy in Penrith (57 km from Sydney CBD) or Marsden Park (50 km away).
Not that Brisbane has much on offer at that price either. CoreLogic says advertised stock levels remain remarkably low, but the number of listings could start to pick up.
However, in the $1.1 million price range, Brisbane offers up 3-bedroom homes with charm and gardens.
Quoted in Smart Property Investment, Domain’s head of research and economics, Dr Nicola Powell, said 26 per cent of property inquiries in Brisbane over the last quarter of 2021 came from southern home hunters. The comparatively affordable homes, climate, lower cost of living, cosmopolitan lifestyle, and looming Olympic Games in 2032 have given it a leg-up over some of the more expensive cities.
The Age reported last August that in total, Melbourne had lost a net 34,366 residents, including 3682 who made the move to Brisbane. People in the prime of their working years are the biggest group moving out of Melbourne, it said.
Melbourne’s median house value surpassed $1 million for the first time in January, reports CoreLogic, while it was the second month in a row Canberra’s median house value passed $1 million. Many can swap expensive units for freestanding houses by their move north to Brisbane.
And if Brisbane is booming too much for your budget, there are plenty of other towns a half hour or so drive from Brisbane appearing very affordable for southern migrants including Carseldine, Boondall, Geebung, Zillmere, and Wynnum.
While Brisbane may seem to have boomed the most this last year, perhaps there are reasons for that which could continue for some time compared to Sydney and Melbourne. With just 10 years until the Brisbane Olympics, buying now may still prove to be a bargain.
Image: Brisbane By Kgbo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0