QLD’s ‘supercharged’ suburbs poised for MORE growth

Queensland’s booming real estate market looks set to continue in 2022, with more than a third of Australia’s ‘supercharged’ suburbs located in the Sunshine State.

And many of those suburbs have one thing in common – affordability.

The Price Predictor Index Summer 2021/2022 by Hotspotting identified North Queensland, in particular, as a region to watch in the new year.

Interestingly, the report suggests that the powerhouse Sunshine Coast market may have reached its peak after three years of extraordinary growth and jawdropping price records.

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“Regional Queensland is one of the nation’s strongest markets with great prospects for price growth in the next year,” property analyst Terry Ryder said.

“There are growth markets across the state, from the Gold Coast to Cairns and Cooktown in the far north.”

Mr Ryder, who looks at sales volumes rather than median prices, identified 100 ‘supercharged suburbs’ across Australia where the number of properties changing hands is on the rise.

Thirty-seven of those suburbs were located in Queensland, with many situated outside of the red-hot southeast corner.

They included Airlie Beach, Bowen and Cannonvale (Whitsundays), Edge Hill, Palm Cove and Port Douglas (Cairns), and Nelly Bay and Idalia (Townsville).

Townsville was identified as one of the “big improvers”, with the number of growth suburbs rising from eight suburbs just six months ago to 14.

There is also now 17 growth suburbs in Cairns, up from 13 just six months ago.

Rising sales activity was also recorded in Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Toowoomba, Mackay and Gympie.

The Sunshine Coast had 18 growth suburbs, up from 17, but down on its peak, according to the report.

“Of the 251 locations analysed across Queensland, 241 (96 per cent) have recorded growth in their median house prices in the past year, of which 211 have increased by over 5 per cent,” the report revealed.

“In terms of locations with growth above 20 per cent, regional Queensland is one of the best in the nation.”

Many of the state’s mining towns are also seeing a surge in sales activity.

But it was Ipswich – once considered a weekend road trip from Brisbane – that Mr Ryder said was Australia’s growth star.

“The rise of the Brisbane market continues and this is now the strongest market in the nation,” the report said, noting that the ongoing rise in the number of rising markets was being led by the more affordable regions of Ipswich, Logan and Moreton Bay.

In the Brisbane metro region, there are now a record 168 rising suburbs – up from 163 just three months ago.

“Demand has never been stronger in Brisbane,” Mr Ryder said.

“In the housing markets, there is good growth occurring across all sections of the Brisbane market, but the biggest uplift to date has been in the more expensive areas.”

Buyers agent Belinda Shields, of PS Property Advisory, said Brisbane’s prestige market had “come of age”.

“One of the most striking elements is that far more Brisbane locals are purchasing at this

price level,” Ms Shields said.

“High-end prestige is no longer just within the realm of interstate, expat and foreign national buyers in Brisbane.”

Ms Shields said Brisbane recorded 11 sales priced between $5 million and $20 million in 2019 and 22 in 2020.

“Now for 2021 to date, we’ve seen 38 sales in this price bracket,” she said.

“One of my agent contacts said … it’s easier to sell a property between $10 million and $20 million in the current market than it is to sell a property between $3 million and $5 million.

“We are the current go-to market for high-net worth buyers.”

REA Group recently revealed the Queensland suburbs where homeowners had hit the real estate lottery, with Sunshine Beach coming out on top with a median house price just $50,000 less than Byron Bay.

Of the top 20 growth stars nationally – Greater Sydney excluded – three were in Queensland, with all of those on the Sunshine Coast, according to the research.

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