$101,000 higher: records tumble as Brisbane, Qld, home prices rise

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After being behind Melbourne a year ago, Brisbane home prices are now $101,000 higher than the Victorian capital.

Home prices have jumped by as much as 22pc in parts of Queensland, with latest PropTrack figures seeing records tumble across the board including a $101k rise in Brisbane.

Brisbane held on to its title of second most expensive capital city in Australia, with dwelling prices hitting a record $882,000 median, the latest PropTrack Home Price Index out Thursday found, but shockingly, its 8.7 per cent annual rise was at the lower end of surges the state has seen this past year.

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Brisbane home price growth. Source: PropTrack

REA Group senior economist and report author Anne Flaherty said “less than 12 months ago, the median price of a home in Brisbane was less than Melbourne. Now, it is $101,000 higher” – which sees it remain one of the strongest performing capitals following closely behind Adelaide (+10.8pc) and Perth (+9.3pc).

Bu at least five Queensland regions have beaten Brisbane home price growth significantly, led by Townsville where the dwelling median spiked 22.02 per cent in the past year alone to hit $534,000.

Central Queensland surged 18.09pc to $527,000 thanks in part to resource sector resurgence, Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday was up 14.84pc to $547,000, Darling Downs-Maranoa rose 13.17pc to $483,000 and Ipswich beat Brisbane’s regional level to log 12.28pc to $738,000.

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Townsville continues its reign as the strongest area of growth in Queensland.

“It’s kind of amazing actually that Townsville has emerged as this investor hotspot, which has really pushed up those prices. From the perspective of a lot of buyers, not just investors but owner occupiers, there was a lot of value in the Townsville market.”

“There’s very hot competition for those homes that do hit the market so that dynamic is really starting to shift.”

Brisbane’s median house price is now $989,000 and regional Queensland $763,000, while units were at $683,000 and $669,000 respectively.

”As a whole, Queensland’s regional markets have absolutely been booming. The fact that we’ve seen 0.43pc growth in just one month over April is really, really strong,” she said of monthly rise the rest of the state has logged.

“We’re seeing across the whole of the state a massive shortfall in the homes being built versus the population growth. A lot of Queensland’s regions are really feeling this.”

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REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty said Queensland was different to other Australian states because of its decentralised economy which allowed for multiple cities to thrive at once.

Ms Flaherty said Queensland stood out from other Australian states because there are a lot more people living across the regions than greater Brisbane.

“Queensland is a bit different. If we look at a lot of those regional markets, whether it’s Townsville, Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast or Cairns, they are areas with good economic activity. There are a lot of opportunities for jobs. There’s good infrastructure, good lifestyle. So that buyer demand is being driven by a lot of different demographics.”

She said Brisbane was now a far cry from a decade ago when it was in the middle of an apartment oversupply with prices set to continue to rise, driven by not just the Olympic infrastructure build program but continued surges in population growth, and within weeks another expected fall in interest rates.

“Should interest rates fall in May, we may see the rate of growth pick up again as borrowing capacities increase and mortgage repayments decline.”

Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, home price growth in regional Queensland (+85.8pc) has risen slightly more than Brisbane (+83.4pc) over the five years, she said.