The following is an article published in The Courier Mail Digital Edition on 16 March 2019, written by Elizabeth Tilley, Real Estate Reporter.
Queensland real estate is on the cusp of a boom fuelled by Sydney and Melbourne’s property woes, with a leading analyst predicting interstate migration to hit a record high by next year – putting upward pressure on home prices.
Research by Place Advisory , provided exclusively to The Courier-Mail , predicts gross interstate migration to the state could surge to more than 120,000 people by the end of June 2020.
That would surpass the level reached in 2002, which was a catalyst for double-digit house price growth.
The number of southerners flocking to the Sunshine State is at its highest level in 14 years – and it’s not just because of our warm weather and worldclass beaches.
Queensland recorded a gross interstate migration gain of 105,938 people in the 12 months to the end of last June, according to the latest Bureau of Statistics figures, with almost three-quarters coming from Sydney and Melbourne.
Last real price growth was in 2008
Place Advisory director Lachlan Walker said the last period of decent home price growth in Queensland was between 2002 and 2008 when interstate migration was high and the economy was soaring.
“We haven’t really seen real price growth since 2008,” he said.
“The floods in 2011 and 2013 really halted our marketplace, whereas the southern states have definitely seen significant capital growth.”
Mr Walker said that could be about to change, with growth in the range of around 7 per cent on the horizon.
“From now, we could start to see price growth for the first time since the last real cycle,” he said.
“We’re relatively affordable now compared to everywhere else on the eastern seaboard, and job opportunities are starting to arise, which should result in higher demand and higher prices. Realistically, we’re probably looking at 5, 6, 7 per cent (growth).
“Some years it could be higher, some years it could be slightly lower.”
Major infrastructure to inject $17 billion
According to the Real Estate Institute of Q u e e n s l a n d , major infrastructure projects are forecast to inject $17 billion into the Brisbane economy over the next six years.
“This sort of expenditure is boosting confidence, a key measure of market strengthening among most property industry stakeholders,” chief executive Antonia Mercorella said.
The REIQ cites tourism as one of the most promising growth industries.
Nerina Pratt (pictured) recently moved from Sydney to Brisbane for work and is renting in the city, but looking to buy a home in the near future.
She said she liked Brisbane’s “laid-back lifestyle” and affordability. “It’s definitely a change of pace,” she said. “I do think you can get more value for money here.”
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