Victorian and NSW buyers have swamped Brisbane’s property market as borders reopen

Queensland’s border have reopened as interstate searches for Brisbane properties jump more than 50 per cent and real estate agents get swamped with inquires.

Investors and migrating southerners have been bombarding real estate and buyer’s agents with inquiries since the borders reopened as exclusive data shows interstate searches for Brisbane properties have skyrocketed.

All indications are, the urgency for Sydneysiders and Melbourne to purchase a property in Queensland in 2022 will send the real estate market into overdrive again, experts say.

Since December 17, when the state started welcoming those vaccinated against Covid-19, leading estate agents have been overwhelmed with daily emails, texts and calls from interstate buyers.

Workers remove a barrier at the Tweed Border. Queensland fully reopened to the rest of the country on January 15 following a partial reopening in mid-December. Picture: Glenn Hampson

REA data shows that across December, when the borders were reopening, there had been a 51 per cent, year-on-year, increase from interstate for Brisbane properties.

First, it was the announcement and then the physical opening of Queensland’s border that has ignited the search frenzy, said REA’s executive economic research manager Cameron Kusher.

“Even for those that haven’t travelled to Queensland since the borders reopened, it has afforded them more certainty about being able to move to the state should they wish to and is likely to have led to a bump in searches for property,” he said.

Reopening Queensland’s border has provided certainty for buyer’s moving north and for investors wanting to inspect a property before purchasing, says REA’s executive economic research manager Cameron Kusher.

The enormous amount of inquiries over the annual holiday period has been in direct contrast to any other year when the industry winds down.

It will heat up even more after all border restrictions were lifted on January 15, says Place real estate’s co-managing director Sarah Hackett.

“There is a huge amount from interstate and we can’t keep up with it. It’s 100 per cent because the borders have reopened,” Ms Hackett says.

“The inquiry boom has happened in the last few days and it’s just as busy if not busier than last year.”

Place real estate’s co-managing director Sarah Hackett says they cannot keep up with buyer inquiries from interstate while those looking to sell are also increasing in numbers. Picture: Supplied

There are even expats, who have returned home, adding to the buyers on the prowl in early 2022, she said.

Almost sensing the buyer momentum since borders opened, the number of homeowners are looking to offload their property are also increasing number but not quickly enough, Ms Hackett said.

“I have a family from Hong Kong and a Byron Bay family coming to meet me who are buying,” she said.

“It’s emails, texts and phone calls and there have been sellers calling as well, thinking they want to sell before the boom ends.”

One of the few agents to spruik in the first week of the year was Ray White’s Bulimba agent Brandon Wortley who sold a house sight unseen to an overseas buyer within days of it being listed.

Brandon Wortley (l) and Daniel Lazzaroni from Ray White Bulimba sold the house behind them for $1.3m, sight unseen, to a buyer in Saudi Arabia. Picture, John Gass

The buyer was among more than 300 inquiries, including phone calls in the wee hours, Mr Wortley fielded over the first few days of the New Year with more than a third of those inquires from interstate, he said.

“We put six properties online on December 31 and in four days we had more than 300 inquires and more than 100 of those were from interstate and about 50 were from overseas,” he said.

“I was even getting calls at 3am and there was a FOMO attitude among them. We even sold one house for the asking price of $1.3m to an expat in Saudi Arabia who signed sight unseen.

“We had more than a dozen sight-unseen offers over the break before we even had an open house on those properties and we are talking cash, unconditional and full asking price.”

Jason Adcock from Adcock Prestige says 50 per cent of the people attending pen houses this year have been from interstate. Picture: Supplied

It’s not just the number of inquires over the phone or via email that has floored Adcock Prestige Principal Jason Adcock, but the number of interstate residents turning up to open home inspections.

Of the 10 open homes he has conducted in the past week, about half of the attendees have been either interstate residents or expats, he said.

“I have never seen those percentages ever,” he said.

“That’s across the board for all the open houses and it’s purely because of the borders reopening.”

Whereas owner-occupiers fleeing southern states or expats made up the bulk of inquires for buyer’s agent Jamie Charman during lockdowns last year, Sydney investors are now his most prominent client.

Buyer’s agent Jamie Charman, principal of Charman Property Co, says interstate investors are on the prowl for sub $1m properties about 10km from the CBD. Pic Mark Cranitch.

They are conducting buying raids on properties just shy of a million dollars within homes within 10km of the CBD, the principal of Charman Property Co said.

“Since the borders opened inquiries have massively increased,” he said.

“I’ve had strong inquiries from Sydneysiders wanting to invest in Brisbane and there have never been so many inquiries from Sydney and a lot of them want to buy five to 10 kilometres from the CBD.”

It’s a similar story about interstate interest from Streamline Property Buyers Agents Melinda Jenison.

“Our inquiries lately have come from interstate and eighty per cent of our inquiries at the moment are investors,” she said.