Login
iscover
A new report showed more southerners are looking to become Queenslanders, as the high cost of living in bigger cities — particularly in Sydney — become a major deal breaker for buyers.
Data from virtual tours platform Little Hinges showed that 29.4 per cent, or one in three, of the 300,000 virtual inspections across major regions in Australia were conducted by interstate buyers in November — up from 26 per cent in October.
Little Hinges chief marketing officer Mike York said that “Queensland continues to lead the country with very high percentages of digital inspections being conducted from outside the region”.
The Sunshine State received the biggest interest from sight-unseen buyers, with almost 44 per cent of property purchasers looking to find their place on the Gold Coast. The figures are slightly higher than the 43 per cent the region saw in the previous month.
Buyers from outside Queensland are also showing great interest in the Sunshine Coast, with 34 per cent of buyers looking to purchase property in the lifestyle region virtually checking in from other states — up from 32.6 per cent in October.
Brisbane was not far behind its state peers, with almost 20 per cent of out-of-state buyers looking to purchase property in the capital city.
Data showed that buyers from the NSW and Victoria make up the largest percentages of those who are looking to make a move to pack up and move to Queensland — continuing the trend observed in October of southerners looking to exit the bigger states.
On the other hand, Sydney and Melbourne only saw 10 per cent and 17 per cent of virtual property inspections from interstate buyers, respectively.
Despite the Gold Coast continuing to remain the golden child for interstate property buyers, every city (except Sydney) saw an increase in the number of buyers inspecting remotely in November.
Mr York noted that Sydney’s appointment as one of the most expensive cities in the world has also contributed to the southern exodus.
A new survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit showed that Sydney is now one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, claiming the 10th spot in 2022 and moving up from 14th last year.
Australian cities generally edged up the rankings, with Melbourne rising to 15th from 16th last year, while Brisbane was 32nd, up from 36th. Perth was the only city to buck the trend, dropping two spots to 73rd.
The report attributed the reshuffling of the rankings to soaring energy prices, which doubled the inflation rate across the major global cities.
Notably, this increase in cost-of-living pressures in major cities comes at a time when CoreLogic’s October 2022 data showed prices in the regional areas of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast have fallen in the last quarter and consequently increasing the regions’ appeal to buyers.
Director of Brisbane West Inner Realty Kathleen Luck shared her firsthand experience of the influx of NSW and Victorian buyers into the Sunshine State.
“We’re seeing a significant increase in interest from buyers in the southern states over the last two years, particularly those who want to buy sight unseen,” Ms Luck said.
She noted that virtual inspections are giving interstate buyers more confidence to lock in their purchases, adding: “We want to continue to tap into interstate buyers, which is a no-brainer considering the large numbers of people who want to move to Queensland.”
Mr York also noted that not only is Queensland seeing “big numbers” of interstate inspections, but in-demand areas such as the Gold Coast are also seeing “close to double-digit inspection percentages” from international buyers.
But he acknowledged that the percentage of out-of-country buyers does not reflect the same trends observed locally.
“Melbourne is leading the country with 9 per cent of inspections coming from overseas, followed closely by the Gold Coast at 7.9 per cent.
“Buyers from New Zealand, the United States and the UK are keen to snap up a piece of Australian property,” Mr York stated.
Newsletter
