Brisbane House Price Recovery Imminent

The long-awaited property market recovery in Brisbane is imminent, according to a national research group.

While the Queensland capital has remained relatively flat for the course of 2013, in stark contrast to the very hot Sydney and Melbourne housing markets, next year should see a turning of the tide.

That’s the view of the National Property Research Company (NPR Co), which has conducted analysis of recent movements and provided an outlook for 2014.

In broad terms, the group expects sales volume to increase by between 25 per cent and 35 per cent over 2014 as pent up demand is met and population growth continues.

In fact, house sales in the second quarter of 2013 are already lifting and have reached their highest levels in about three years.

“Discussions with real estate agents and developers reveal a noticeable increase in the number of buyers attending open homes and the level of enquiry, although this can vary between areas,” NPR Co’s report says.

The Brisbane market bottomed around the end of 2012 but across the city there has only been a marginal one per cent lift in median house prices, but NPR Co expects this to change shortly.

When data for the third and fourth quarters of 2013 is released, the research house expects to see the start of median price increases in some suburbs. “Although it’s unlikely to occur in any material way until 2014 given that Christmas is typically a quitter time for the property market.”

As the market recovery progresses, it’s expected price growth will be patchy and occur in some areas before others.

“NPR Co expects that volumes will start to recover in the middle and inner ring suburbs and gradually move outward,” the report says.

In addition, it says the speed at which house prices begin to rise will also likely be more gradual and “sustainable”, rather than driven by a significant spike.

“2014 is looming as a good year for southeast Queensland’s residential property market.”