'Doom and gloom days' of Ipswich property behind us: Agent

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Ipswich representative Darren Boettcher said the market was showing positive signs.

Darren Boettcher is the new REIQ chairman for the Ipswich region.Photo: Rob Williams / The Queensland Times. Picture: Rob Williams

IPSWICH real estate agents will use the Christmas period to prepare for what is expected to be a good 2018 for the region's property market.

With about one week to go before the holiday season shuts down the sector, data from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland has revealed a positive year of growth in 2017.

The institute's quarterly market monitor found the Ipswich house market demonstrated consistent growth over the past year, adding 3.1% to the median price, reaching $335,000.

In the quarter, 5161 homes were on the market at an average list time of 40 days.

Ipswich's median house price for the quarter rose 0.7% to $337,250, with 592 sold.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Ipswich representative Darren Boettcher said the market was showing positive signs.

"The days of doom and gloom in Ipswich area over," he said.

"There will be steady growth in the Ipswich market, I predict at about 3% a year for the next three to five years."

Mr Boettcher said the market was suffering a stock shortage.

"All year has been fantastic - there are not enough houses for sale," he said.

With Brisbane's median property price at $660,000, Mr Boettcher said Ipswich was undervalued.

He expected the price would correct within three years.

He said there was an oversupply in Ipswich's rental market, with timber post-war homes becoming increasingly competitive with newly constructed homes.

The institute noted Ipswich was part of southeast Queensland's growth corridor, along with Logan, and was an active market for first home buyers.

Queensland has the highest proportion of first home buyers across the nation, with these new property seekers making up about 20% of the buying population, according to ABS lending data.

The strong performance of the southeast corner's coastal markets helped drive Queensland's growth over the past year, with more than 58,000 houses sold and an annual median price growth of 2.4 per cent.

The unit market in Ipswich is more volatile.

The market has grown 5.8% over the past 12 months to an annual median of $329,000, however, suffered a quarterly loss of 20.3%.

The REIQ statistics

- In the past year, Ipswich's median property price increased 3.1% to $335,000

- For the last quarter the median price rose 0.7%

- Ipswich has the lowest annual median price in the Greater Brisbane area

- The sale of 1674 vacant blocks for the year had a median price of $190,000, a 1.5% fall on the previous year

- First home buyers make up about 20% of Queensland's purchasing population - the highest in the nation.

- The gross rental yields for homes was steady at 4.8% while unit yields were down more than 2%.