More than one in four homes were paid for in cash in the past year, with Queensland leading the eastern states for the number of purchases without a mortgage.
Data from online property settlement platform, PEXA, reveals 50,783 homes across the Sunshine State were bought with cash, with sales totalling $41 billion — driven by interstate retirees and vacant land sales.
The regional Queensland town of Tara topped the rankings, with a whopping 77 per cent of properties settled with cash in fiscal 2024. The median value of those cash sales was $105,000.
More than three quarters of the residential properties sold in the regional Queensland town of Tara are bought with cash. Picture: Liam Kidston
Cash purchases made up 28.1 per cent of all home sales in Queensland in fiscal 2024, followed by NSW with 27 per cent, and Victoria with 24.2 per cent.
PEXA Group’s chief economist Julie Toth said Victoria’s smaller pool of cash buyers suggested a higher proportion of first home buyers were active in the state.
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“As in other states, regional locations feature heavily — but not exclusively — among Victoria’s postcodes with the highest proportions of cash buyers, offering an attractive blend of lifestyle benefits,” Ms Toth said.
Julie Toth, chief economist at PEXA Group.
“Most of the regional sea-change and tree-change postcodes that are popular with Victorian cash buyers have a lower median price than the city. They include coastal zones in Gippsland plus postcodes 3465 (Maryborough) and 3451 (Campbells Creek) in the Central Goldfields area.”
A house in Princess St, Campbells Creek, which has become popular among cash buyers.
The average purchase price for homes bought with cash in Queensland was $610,000, compared to just over $800,000 for similar cash purchases in NSW.
Ms Toth said the large price gap reflected Queensland’s appeal to interstate buyers seeking relatively more affordable lifestyle opportunities in regional and coastal areas.
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“Queensland’s property market continues to attract interstate buyers, especially retirees and
downsizers seeking affordable properties in desirable regional areas,” Ms Toth said.
Queensland continues to attract cash buyers to its coastal property markets like the Gold Coast.
Ms Toth said that while cash purchases still made up a significant portion of the market in Queensland, their share was gradually declining, with the number of cash transactions 0.8 per cent lower than last year.
“More first-home buyers are entering Queensland’s property market, with many relying on
mortgage financing,” she said.
“This shift is changing the market dynamics, but cash purchases remain crucial in high-demand areas, particularly for vacant land and lifestyle properties.”
The regional Queensland town of Tara. Picture: Liam Kidston.
Vacant land became a notable focus for cash purchases in Queensland in FY24, especially in rural and coastal locations.
In Tara, 72 of the 103 cash purchases in FY24 were for vacant land. Similarly, in Russell Island, 69 per cent of cash transactions involved vacant land.
“The high proportion of cash purchases for vacant land in Queensland likely reflects the challenges buyers face in securing mortgages for undeveloped lots,” Ms Toth said.
“Lenders often consider these purchases riskier, especially for owner-builders with no guarantee that a dwelling will be constructed.”
Brisbane-based buyer’s agent Wendy Russell said cash purchases were “the norm” among the clients she worked with.
Buyer’s agent Wendy Russell.
Ms Russell said it was particularly common among expat couples in their 40s and early 50s who had been living and working abroad.
“This demographic is buying Brisbane inner-city property with the intent to secure their piece of real estate now, before the (anticipated) price rises as we head into the Olympics,” Ms Russell said.
“They hold the belief that buying now is a strategic move rather than waiting.”
JLF Group managing director James Fitzgerald said it was likely one in two owner-occupiers were paying for properties with cash.
“47 per cent of all owner-occupiers in Australia don’t have a mortgage, so if you think about it, nearly one in two owner-occupiers swapping from one house to another will be doing so with cash,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“It makes sense because we have never been more wealthy in Australia. Our biggest asset class is housing and it’s worth $11 trillion and we owe just $2.3 trillion.
James Fitzgerald, managing director of JLF Group. Image supplied.
“More and more Australians trading homes will be doing so without a mortgage, particularly with baby boomers leaving the workforce and downsizing.”
Mr Fitzgerald said he was finding suburbs like Broadbeach Waters in Queensland, Mossman in Sydney, and Toorak in Melbourne were seeing the highest numbers of cash buyers.
Buyer’s agent and Propertybuyer CEO Rich Harvey said he was noticing clients with a budget of $800,000 to $1.5m having the cash to buy property in Brisbane.
“That’s, we think, because they have a lot of equity built up in their homes,” Mr Harvey said.
“They’re 50 to 70 years of age, either pre or post retirement, and have been sitting in the market for quite some time and now looking to be debt free.”
Mr Harvey said it was a “myth” that many downsizers were swapping houses for a two-bedroom apartment.
Buyer’s agrnt Rich Harvey.
“Many now want to live near the beach or the city, and they’re buying two-storey homes with five bedrooms because they know they can put a lift in and they want room for the grandkids to visit,” he said.
In NSW, Mr Harvey said he was seeing most cash purchases being made in Manly and Freshwater, while in Brisbane, the suburbs of New Farm, Newstead, Hamilton, and Kangaroo Point were popular.
Capital Luxury Residences CEO Phil Pezzi recently sold a six-bedroom house he built in Mermaid Waters on the Gold Coast to a cash buyer for $7.7m prior to auction.
Alissa Birch and Phillip Pezzi recently sold this mansion they built in Mermaid Waters to a cash buyer. Picture Glenn Hampson
The property at 84 Oceanic Drive to a Chinese buyer.
“I have noticed in the last six months the influx of Chinese buyers at auctions and buying has been as high it was pre-COVID,” Mr Pezzi said.
“There are multiple cash buyers we’re seeing. I’m only talking about the luxury end of the market.”
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