Login
iscover
Queensland’s property market strength has not wavered over 2020, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s CEO.
A CEO update from Antonia Mercorella has highlighted the “remarkably resilient” nature of the state’s property market, which is all the more impressive “when you consider we confronted the state’s worst bushfire season late last year and we’re now in recession for the first time in 30 years”.
It led her to forecast the state to be “one of the better performing property markets in Australia over the next few years”.
Citing CoreLogic’s latest hedonic home value index data from September 2020, Ms Mercorella said Brisbane’s annual median growth is now at 3.5 per cent, while regional annual growth now sits at 4.6 per cent.
According to the CEO, “Brisbane’s steady performance even before COVID has really been its strength, unlike Melbourne and Sydney which have experienced more pronounced fluctuations in property prices given their higher dependence on immigration, higher debt-to-income ratios and house price-to-income ratios”.
While conceding Brisbane is not immune to the economic effects of the pandemic, she said future impact would depend on how much longer it takes to contain the virus, consumer confidence, future employment rates as well as “how deep this recession will reach”.
Elsewhere, Ms Mercorella suggested “there are a variety of factors helping to support regional housing market conditions including strong demand despite any anticipated drops due to a pause in migration”.
With appeal also attributable to relatively low density and lower price points, the CEO noted that the normalisation of remote work through the pandemic has made location relative to major cities less of a factor in home purchasing decisions.
In addition, “interstate demand continues to strengthen in Queensland, and we anticipate this demand to surge in the coming year ahead as we navigate through to the other side of this pandemic”, she added.
While offering an optimistic view of the current Queensland situation, Ms Mercorella has flagged that the government must improve access to established housing, while also working to boost investor interest in the Sunshine State.
On the rental issue, the CEO said property investors have faced “potential onerous rental laws that would strip them of essential rights, to force the hand of many investors to consider selling”.
“Any further tightening in rental availability levels, with approximately 64 per cent of the market already below 1 percentile, will only place additional undue pressures on our housing sector, which is why more needs to be done to better support both increased and ongoing property investor activity including access to a fair and balanced legislative framework around tenancy laws that provide sufficient support and protection to both tenants and property investors,” she argued.
Equally important, according to the CEO, is better support for growth and success of commercial property investors and business owners.
Despite conceding a need to continue responsible COVID-19 border protections and health measures, Ms Mercorella said the REIQ hopes to see “a balance between the needs of the community and that of the economy”.
It’s led her to request additional funding towards small- to medium-sized business sustainability, “through a range of pandemic grants committed to the support of commercial property owners along with the growth and success of small business in Queensland including tax rebates, return-to-office initiatives, retail sector support, and tourism and hospitality”.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
Newsletter
