BRISBANE and the Gold Coast have beaten all comers including Sydney, notching a combined $27.5 billion in real estate sales in the past year.
CoreLogic researcher Cameron Kusher said the results came despite Brisbane seeing sales values drop by a massive -11.2 per cent compared to the 2015 result, while the Gold Coast managed to contain its fall to just -2.2 per cent.
Brisbane saw 26,428 sales over the year, CoreLogic said, which was lower than 2015’s result of 31,443. The Gold Coast fell from 20,616 to 19,224 over the same period.
Four of the top six sales results in the country were from Queensland councils, including the Sunshine Coast (fifth highest at $4.39B) and Moreton Bay (sixth at $4.36b).
Sandwiched between the four greatest Queensland councils were Boroondara in Victoria ($4.96b in sales) and Sydney ($4.93b).
Every council in the top 20 was in decline though, with Brisbane having notched $18.9b in sales in 2015 while the Gold Coast saw $11 billion in sales.
Boroondara saw a drop of -22.9 per cent after notching $6.4b in 2015, while Sydney sales fell 19 per cent from $6.09b last year.
The biggest jumper of the councils was Circular Head in Tasmania which saw sales values almost double (91.6 per cent), despite the actual number of sales dropping (from 118 to 100). Wakefield in South Australia also saw a massive surge in sales values despite actual number of sales falling.
“This suggests that the increase in value has been more driven by an increase in values of properties rather than an increase in turnover,” Mr Kusher said.
While almost half the biggest risers were in New South Wales, a quarter of the top 20 biggest declines in sales values came out of the Queensland.
Queensland mining and gas regions were hardest hit including Maranoa (-48.1 per cent), Mount Isa (-47.5 per cent), Isaac (-38.9 per cent), Gladstone (-36.1 per cent), Central Highlands (-33.7 per cent) and Banana (-30.7 per cent).
“In each of these regions except for Isaac in Queensland, the number of sales is lower over the year which is clearly contributing to the decline in value of sales,” Mr Kusher said. “A number of these regions are also linked to the mining and resources sector where home values have fallen substantially over recent years.”
Originally Published: http://www.news.com.au/