36pc plunge: 81 Qld suburbs where property prices have fallen

Property prices in 81 Queensland suburbs are officially in decline from the Gold Coast to Brisbane to the Far North, with median prices falling by as much as 36 per cent. SEARCH THE LIST

Latest PropTrack data shows 81 suburbs have seen their median price fall across Queensland.

Latest data shows 81 Queensland suburbs are officially in decline – 20 of which joined the club during Spring alone – with median prices falling by as much as 36 per cent this year.

The November PropTrack Market Trends report found 22 Qld suburbs have had double digit annual price falls, with three of the 81 suburbs showing median falls for both units and houses – Yeerongpilly in Brisbane’s south, Emerald in Central Qld and East Mackay in the Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday region – with house prices falling in 37 suburbs and units down in 47.

 

Six of the suburbs seeing double digit falls were in Greater Brisbane including Ormiston, Mount Gravatt, Highgate Hill, Herston, Kangaroo Point and Park Ridge.

Townsville had four in that peak falls list, with annual prices down from -10 per cent to -19.5 per cent in Nome, Townsville City, Broughton and West End, while Cairns and Toowoomba both had three suburbs apiece (Cardwell, Wongaling Beach, Edmonton and Mount Lofty, North Toowoomba, East Toowoomba).

A two bedder at 15/44-50 Falkinder Avenue, Paradise Point, is priced from $755,000.

Older homes like this three bedroom house in Eidsvold are hitting the market, with this massive 1,518sq m block priced at $175,000.

But it was houses in Eidsvold, Wide Bay – known as the beef capital of the Burnett region – that saw the biggest median price drop this year, notching -36.4 per cent to just $70,000.

Two Greater Brisbane suburbs were also in the top three for price falls – Park Ridge in Logan-Beaudesert where unit prices dropped by 30.3 per cent to a median of $350,000, and Ormiston in Brisbane’s east where units are down 24.3 per cent to $452,500 annually.

But experts believe the price falls are not expected to get much steeper than they are now, with demand factors expected to pick up again despite interest rate interventions by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

A three-bedroom apartment at this location in the seaside suburb of Paradise Point – 4/16 Nankeen Avenue – is priced at $599,000.

BuyersBuyers co-founder Pete Wargent believes “the Australian housing market has passed its ‘peak fear’ phase” with affordability improving in some areas.

“Affordability became a major issue through the pandemic. Stay tuned, however, because there’s been a surge in listings, and asking prices have been falling, and sharply in some cases,” he said. “Peregian Beach is an example of a suburb where huge prices were being paid through the pandemic, with buyers often purchasing sight unseen.”

He said Qld was expected to see major population growth over the next decade and supply would “struggle to keep pace in the landlocked areas of the Queensland market”.

BuyersBuyers co-founder Pete Wargent says the market cycle is past its ‘peak fear’.

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“The downturn has been driven by a combination of lower borrowing capacity and deeply negative sentiment, but we can expect to see some of the gloomier headlines tailing off now, which leads us to believe that ‘peak fear’ has now passed for this market cycle.”

Property investor Bharat Patel, who has more than 25 across Australia including 14 in Qld, is buying four to five properties in the Sunshine State a week for clients of his buyer’s consultancy firm.

This 98sq m apartment with one bedroom, one bathroom, one car space at 1/195 Gladstone Road, Highgate Hill, was priced at the best offers over $299,000 and has gone under contract.

“I do not anticipate a significant price reduction in the Qld regional market. It would mainly impact high-rise apartments near the Gold Coast and Brisbane city. Despite a series of interest rate increases, the majority of Queensland property market is performing well and will continue to do so, including Bundaberg, Townsville, and Rockhampton region.”

He said experienced investors were looking for properties with significant cash flow in difficult times.

“There are still many cheap regions in Qld where people can start their investment journey. In Qld, it’s all about supply and demand. Despite the high demand, approvals for new construction are declining. Real estate stock is under a great deal of strain because of supply chain issues, shortages of construction materials, and ongoing construction problems.”

Property investor Bharat Patel says there are many cheap regions in Qld for buyers to start their property journey.

Of the 81 suburbs showing median price falls annually in Qld, the highest number (20) were in Brisbane including Ormiston, Gordon Park, Mount Gravatt, Fairfield, Holland Park West, Yeerongpilly, Macgregor, Alderley, Highgate Hill, Herston, Kangaroo Point, Wilston, Hawthorne, Milton, Bardon, Brisbane City, West End, Fortitude Valley, Norman Park and Paddington. Expanding to Greater Brisbane takes in three more – Raceview in Ipswich, Park Ridge and Browns Plains in Logan-Beaudesert.

This two bedder at 6/37 Creighton Street, Mount Gravatt, is priced in the low to mid $500,000s.

On the greater Sunshine Coast, Qld’s previous most expensive suburb – Sunshine Beach in Noosa – fell 7.3 per cent to a median of $3.1m for houses, with two other suburbs there – West Woombye (-6.3 per cent) and Marcus Beach (0.5 per cent) – also negative for growth this year.

Surprisingly, the Gold Coast, where supply has been incapable of keeping up with demand all through the pandemic, has two suburbs on the list, both for their unit markets – South Stradbroke -4.5 per cent to $105,000 and Paradise Point -3.8 per cent to $772,000.

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