Why Qld is Australia’s hottest place to live for buyers, renters
Queensland is the most sought-after place to live for both interstate and overseas buyers and renters in Australia, with Sydney and Melbourne left in the dust.
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Queensland is the most sought-after place to live for both interstate and overseas buyers and renters in Australia, with Sydney and Melbourne left in the dust.
In further evidence of just how far Australia’s two largest cities have fallen out of favour, the latest Little Hinges Sight Unseen report for June shows that the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane are firmly the hot favourites among interstate and overseas buyers and renters.
The Gold Coast recorded the highest number of virtual inspections in the country, attracting 40.3 per cent of the total number of interstate buyer inspections and 9.8 per cent of all overseas eyeballs.
It was followed closely by the Sunshine Coast, which attracted 38.5 per cent of interstate buyer inspections and 7.4 per cent of all overseas inspections.
Brisbane came in third spot nationally with 23.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
Inspections of Sydney and Melbourne properties paled in comparison, with Australia’s two biggest cities attracting around 14 per cent each of all interstate buyer inspections.
Nationally, interstate inspections averaged 24.6 per cent while overseas inspections averaged 8.2 per cent.
Melbourne recorded the second highest number of overseas inspections in June with 8 per cent, while Sydney recorded 6.7 per cent.
Little Hinges chief marketing officer Mike York said the report showed a recovery in the number of buyers inspecting property sight unseen, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic lockdowns.
“The percentage of buyers inspecting property from interstate are at their highest levels since the start of the year (24.6%), and the percentage of international inspections is the highest it has been since January 2022 (8.2%),” he said.
Little Hinges analysed over 300,000 virtual inspections in June for the report.
Buyers from NSW and Victoria accounted for the largest interstate inquiry into southeast Queensland, while those from New Zealand, the USA and UK made up the lion’s share of overseas interest in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
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On the flipside, Queensland-based buyers were looking to Sydney and Melbourne, albeit potential migration from the Sunshine State was at a smaller rate, the analysis shows.
Buyers agent and founder of Propertyology Simon Pressley said that when borders were closed during the pandemic, people explored new areas and many liked what they saw.
“People tend to think that when you talk about moving to Queensland that you are talking about Brisbane, but when we look at population over the last decade within the 20km radius of the CBD, Brisbane’s population has actually decreased by around 8300,” he said.
“But when you look at the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, their populations over that same period soared by 55,800 and 56,500 respectively.
“And up north, places like Cairns and Townsville have just seen their biggest ever internal migration.”
But it is not just those looking to buy that are looking for their place in the sun.
The data shows that interstate tenants are also looking to make the move despite the state’s ongoing rental crisis.
The research shows that the Sunshine State accounted for the most virtual rental inspections in Australia.
Leading the nation was the Sunshine Coast with a whopping 32.9 per cent of the total rental inspections - three times that of Sydney at 11 per cent and double that of Melbourne at 15.5 per cent.
It was closely followed by the Gold Coast with 27.9 per cent of virtual rental inspections and Brisbane with 18.5 per cent.
Queensland is also proving to be hot property for overseas renters, with the Gold Coast leading the charge with 11.8%, followed by Sydney (11.2%), Sunshine Coast (9.6%), Melbourne (9.4%), Brisbane and Perth (8.9%).
Renters from New Zealand, the USA and UK have their sights set on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, while renters from New Zealand, Brazil and American Samoa are keen on the Gold Coast lifestyle.
“The percentage of renters inspecting (nationally) from both interstate and internationally has continued to increase, with June’s numbers the highest they have been since we started analysing our digital rental inspection data in January 2023,” Mr York said.
The report comes after exclusive analysis of national rental data by Suburbtrends found that tenants in Queensland were the most “rent stressed” in the nation, with renters in a whopping 383 suburbs recording a rental pain index of 50 or above.
“Generally, 50 is the value for the pain score where I see things getting pretty bad for renters,” Suburbtrends founder Kent Lardner said.
“Queensland is the hardest-hit state, with 86 suburb groups reporting a Rental Pain Index of 75 or higher. NSW follows with 62.”
Queensland’s most rent stressed locale is Stanthorpe with a score of 91 out of 100 based on factors such as the percentage of advertised rentals, vacancy rates, average 12 month rental increases and the average rent as a percentage of income.
Nine Sunshine State suburbs featured in the national top 25 toughest markets including Warwick (87), Chermside (85), Beaudesert, Boonah, Upper Coomera North and Southport North (85), Walkervale/Avenell Heights and Beenleigh (84).
The data also revealed the places where tenants have next to no chance off putting a roof over their heads.
In the Greater Brisbane region, the vacancy rate was effectively zero in Upper Caboolture, Westlake and Samford Valley.
Up north, the lowest vacancy rates in Cairns were in Herberton, Babinda, Malanda-Yungaburra, and Atherton, while in the Townsville region the worst affected suburb was Dalrymple.
On the Gold Coast, the toughest markets were Willow Vale (0.5%), Upper Coomera North (0.6%), Pacific Pines-Gaven, Jacobs Well-Alberton and Nerang-Mount Nathan (0.7%).
Caloundra West-Baringa and Mountain Creek weare the toughest markets on the Sunshine Coast with a vacancy rate of 1 percent.
Ray White AKG principal Avi Khan, whose group has over 2400 rental properties on its books across southern Brisbane and the northern Gold Coast, said around 20 per cent of applications for every listed rental were from interstate relocators.
“We are getting around 25 applications per property and about 20 per cent are from interstate renters which is double what we used to see,” he said.
“And we can see that migration is continuing based on their employment and pay history.
“A lot of them have a short pay history with a new employer and their rental history in Queensland is limited.
“Hence, we are doing more cross-state reference requests, much more than we used to do.”
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Originally published as Why Qld is Australia’s hottest place to live for buyers, renters
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