Brisbane Outperforms Southern States

After three days of lockdown but zero cases of community transmission, Brisbane once again has come out swinging against the challenges of Covid-19. Our relatively low case numbers compared to southern capital cities has made Brisbane a leading city of attraction.

Finishing up 2020 at an all time record high, Brisbane property prices grew by an incredible 1.1% in December alone, outperforming both Sydney and Melbourne. Domain reported demand was so great, the number of properties available for sale fell by 8% from November as buyers rushed to snap up the available homes.

According to a recent Financial Review article, Brisbane has come out of the pandemic dominated year in the strongest position of any capital city, with the latest ABS data showing Brisbane was the only east coast city to record an increase in net migration in the June quarter.  Adding to the increased demand from owner occupiers has been a rise in investor activity, driven by one of the countries lowest rental vacancy rates and increasing yields.

Looking forward, the usual wide ranging gamut of predictions have hit the press, however this year the outlook appears to be consistently positive for Brisbane. Often termed Australia’s most accurate forecaster, Louis Christopher has given four different scenarios, where predicted price growth ranges from 3%-9%. The ANZ forecast is even more optimistic, tipping growth of 9.5% over the year.

Interestingly, we saw many vendors keen to sell off market towards the end of the year. We successfully managed to transact the vast majority of these properties with healthy sales results, however we would caution against taking a blanket approach towards off-market sales.

While we do have highly motivated buyers on our books who are seeking a particular style of property or location, in many cases, an investment in marketing will attract a higher level of competition for a property. Professionally managed and negotiated, a higher level of competition will lead to a higher sales price that more than covers the initial investment.

Ultimately, each situation must be assessed on a case by case basis, with due consideration to the vendor’s circumstance as well as an evaluation of likely demand from the buyer pool. Either way, as always, we’re here to help you make the best property decisions in 2021.

All the best,
Robert Green