Majority Believe Now is a Good Time to Buy in Brisbane Property

Almost 70 per cent of Aussies think now is a good time to buy a house, with nearly half the demand driven by investors, the latest housing sentiment survey by CoreLogic and TEG Rewards has found.

And Brisbane, which has not seen wild surges in housing prices in recent years, could expect to be shielded from some of the price correction that could be coming Sydney and Melbourne’s way, according to CoreLogic research head Tim Lawless.

He said most investors who were looking into the housing market realised the returns were a lot better than cash and bonds and less volatile than equities.

Brisbane was seeing a higher level of people who believed now was a good time to buy (67 per cent) than Sydney (52 per cent) or Melbourne (61 per cent), said Mr Lawless.

“We still do see Australians having a very strong affinity for housing,” he said.

Suncorp Bank said new customers were seeing better offers available, which supported them in making their next property move.

Suncorp Banking and Wealth chief executive David Carter recently announced changes to its retail home lending special offers, with discounted variable rates starting from just 3.71 per cent per annum for new owner-occupied home loans over $150,000, and 3.98 per cent for equivalent new investment loans.

“We have waived the upfront loan establishment fee and there are no ongoing account-keeping fees on the new Back to Basics home loan and transaction account,” he said.

“We are also offering new standard variable discounts on the fully featured Home Package Plus, complemented by competitive two and three-year fixed rates.”

Mr Lawless said improvements in the local economy meant there was a bit of a turnaround in interstate migration coming to Queensland. “That means more demand for housing; we are seeing affordability in Brisbane substantially healthier than what you find in Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.

“You are seeing the pricing difference between Sydney and Brisbane – Sydney prices are now more than 70 per cent higher than Brisbane’s.

“I think when we start to see that imbalance, and that very large pricing gap opening up, it does suggest that Brisbane is undervalued and Sydney is overvalued, in comparison.

“It is also simply the fact that rental yields are still very healthy in Brisbane, and that the housing market cycle hasn’t really kicked off, so you have to think that Brisbane still has some fuel in the tank for further price growth.”