This Week in Real Estate – 15th January 2022

Brisbane The Hottest Market In 2022

South-East Queensland property prices are predicted to hit record highs on the back of increased interstate migration and the 2032 Olympics.

The reopening of international borders is expected to drive prices up even further in SEQ, particularly on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, which have both already experienced strong increases.

Domain chief of research Nicola Powell says Brisbane is the capital city to watch in 2022.

“What we’ve seen is much stronger rates of growth in Brisbane than Sydney,” she says. “We’ve got this shift in migration to South-East Queensland and that adds to the fact that it offers lifestyle and job prospects as well as the Olympics (in 2032) and all the infrastructure projects that are being completed.”

She says Brisbane had under-performed for a number of years, so it now has more capacity for price growth and demand is rising. Brisbane’s median house price of $702,455 is roughly half that of Sydney’s.

More Sea Changers Head To Coast

The exodus to lifestyle regions will continue in 2022 with the Gold Coast market tipped to continue to take advantage of the long-lasting trend.

Buyer’s agent Matt Srama says that, with the ability to work from home now universally accepted, many people will continue to seek out lifestyle locations such as the Gold Coast.

He says there are plenty of buyers waiting in the wings ready to buy on the Gold Coast in 2022.

“With the international borders opening, we’ve got a lot of buyers coming in,” he says. “We’ve also heard the same thing from interstate people: they know where they want to live, they want to move to the Gold Coast, but they just want to get up here first, have a little look around and get comfortable,” he says.

As well as an increase in buyers, Srama says listings will also increase in 2022.

He says many regional areas in Australia have had to find a balance of welcoming in new energy and new life but also keeping the lifestyle which made the areas attractive in the first place.

2021 Made Us Wealthier Than Ever

Australians became richer than ever in 2021 with household wealth increasing by 20% despite the Covid impacts.

Household net wealth rose to its highest ever level in 2021 mainly as a result of an improved stock market, growing property prices and lockdowns reducing household spending.

Plenty of records were broken in 2021. Employment-to-population ratios climbed to 63% – the highest since records began – while unemployment fell to 4.3% in November, the lowest rate since the peak of the mining boom in 2008. All indications are that unemployment figures will continue to tighten in 2022.

Farmers in some regions are having their best year on the land in decades with the total value of agricultural production set to hit $78 billion with wheat, cotton, wool and cattle prices all up.

The number of business registrations in Australia also grew by 30% while wages are on the way up as economic growth is expected to grow at a faster pace than it has in 25 years.

Dream Of Ownership Still Alive

The Great Australian Dream of home ownership is alive and well with a new survey revealing it is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions for 2022.

Prices may have taken off in 2021 but plenty of Aussies still want to get their foot on the property ladder, according to financial comparison site Canstar.

Its survey found many participants made a New Year’s resolution centred around money, with 21% wanting to buy a home as the second most popular resolution. The most popular resolution of the 2,124 participants surveyed was to save money.

The third most popular resolution was to buy an investment property, with 10% of participants saying this was their major goal for 2022.

Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker says the results show that not even high property prices can dampen the Australian obsession with property.

Rental Scarcity Tough On Tenants

Landlords are tipped to reap the rewards of continued tight vacancy rates throughout Australia in 2022.

Domain’s monthly Rental Vacancy Rate report reveals the number of properties available for rent increased slightly in December but it remains incredibly low. The national vacancy rate is down from 2.4% in November 2020 to 1.7% (3% is considered a balanced market).

With January considered a busy time for renting, Domain chief of research Nicola Powell says vacancy rates will continue to decline.

“It means that in some areas of Australia, particularly the smaller markets, it will be well-nigh impossible to find a home to rent in 2022,” she says.

The number of properties available for rent dropped to just 37,000 in December 2021 – 31% down on the same time 12 months earlier. Hobart has the tightest vacancy rate of 0.3%, followed by Adelaide, 0.4%, Perth, 0.6%, Canberra, 1%, Brisbane 1.3% and Darwin 1.3%.