“In March we clocked 21 home transactions, which was $14.9 million in sales. This time last year was $3.3 million from six but that was pandemic mode. The year before [at the same time] we did 15 sales totalling $7 million and that was our benchmark,” he said.
“The number of buyers has increased dramatically by 20 and 30 per cent.”
Ray White New Farm agent Christine Rudolph said in the city’s inner pockets such as Paddington, Teneriffe/New Farm, Hawthorne and out to Indooroopilly, the mass interstate migration had reached record highs, sparking a severe rent shortage that was further fuelling house prices.
“We are continuing to see a massive drive of interstate and expat inquiry … in the prestige market 50 per cent of our sales are driven by local buyers and the other 50 per cent are from interstate and overseas,” Ms Rudolph said.
“In New Farm a high degree of our traffic is coming from the Sydney eastern suburbs and they say they can’t believe the value and how affordable it is here.”
In Sydney, house prices have soared to an unprecedented $1.3 million median, the Domain House Price Report showed, while Melbourne’s unit and house prices were both at record highs.
But while sun-seeking southerners forking out the big bucks were sparking major growth, Ms Rudolph said, the ongoing lack of stock, particularly at the prestige end, and COVID-fuelled property trends had further shot up house medians.“We’ve definitely seen a change in trends since COVID – people have had more opportunity to spend time in their homes … and people are craving space and they are craving a view and beautiful gardens,” she said.
“It’s spurring the price growth and there’s also a degree of ‘FOMO’ at the moment because a lot of the local buyers are mindful of this continued interstate migration.”
Place Estate Agents Bulimba joint managing director Paul Curtain said in some prime pockets of the city’s inner east, price growth had averaged 12 per cent in the past quarter alone, with the traditionally lower end of the market nothing short of booming.
“An average house in somewhere like Camp Hill with perhaps three bedrooms and one bathroom on a 405-square-metre block might have sold for low $700,000s about 12 months ago … but now [homes like these] are selling for over $900,000,” Mr Curtain said.
He said interstate buyers were also making up about 50 per cent of buyers in his patch and said the cosmopolitan vibes and abundance of cafes and top eateries made the region particularly appealing to migrants from Melbourne, Sydney and overseas – especially for those who could snap up a house for 25 per cent less than in suburbs such as New Farm.
Across the city, the Domain data further revealed the Brisbane north region – which spans Stafford to Brighton – was one of the capital’s top performing regions after house prices rose 4.9 per cent over the past quarter to $670,094 – up almost 10 per cent year on year.
Article Source: www.domain.com.au