GANGBUSTERS: Warwick real estate defies recession

Demand for homes the biggest yet, with some predicting a price rise by the end of the month.

SELLING SELLING SOLD: Warwick real estate agent Helen Harm is struggling to hold onto properties for longer than 24 hours as our region's market booms.

A NATIONAL recession may have concerned some housing experts but in the Rose City, real estate agents are in one of the biggest booms of their careers.

The unanimous response from Warwick agents is positive, with buyer interest from just about everywhere.

Agent Helen Harm said she hadn’t “been this busy in years” as demand for Queensland houses soar.

“We sold one to someone from Western Australia who bought it but hasn’t seen it, we sold another in virtually 24 hours, to someone who is working in Singapore and hadn’t seen anything other than photos,” she said.

“We’ve always had weather in our favour but now we have got the ideal situation going for us. Who wouldn’t want to come to Queensland now?”

May CoreLogic statistics seem to agree.

While housing markets have already taken a hit by a national rate of -0.4 per-cent, Queensland capital Brisbane only slumped by -0.1 per cent, significantly lower than once-sought after spots like Sydney and Melbourne.

Mrs Harm said she predicted the local market to reflect that trend and skyrocket shortly, as even those houses listed for years were swooped up.

“You’re going to see within the next month a price rise. You can’t have this amount of activity without the price going up,” she said.

“It was a buyer’s market — that’s finished. Sellers aren’t desperate for buyers anymore.”

A quick look at the supply and demand for Warwick from Realestate.com.au, with reports it could soon see an uptake.

At Ray White Rural Warwick, licensee Ben Lubben said those concerned by news from the metro areas only had to look at the localised data.

“Our normal residential land sale average would typically be nine to 12 a year, nothing massive, but with the announcement of the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant, we’ve had 16 settlements since June and more under contact,” he said.

“There’s been a massive increase in demand for the building sector. The term recession is a bit of hype from the major cities, I think.”

He too has also seen unparalleled interest from interstate buyers, looking to sign without seeing the property physically, as well as an uptake in rural land purchases.

“More recently, rural parcels have had more interest than in the last little while,” Mr Lubben said.

“I’ve had people outright say they have a portion of money and think the best option is to invest in real estate over everything else during this time.

“I can’t scare people and say not to sell or buy. It is great time to go onto the market.”

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