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Brisbane property values have continued to grow slowly and steadily over the last month on the back of stronger house price growth at a national level. Since our October Brisbane Property Market Update was published,  Corelogic Home Value Index data has confirmed that Brisbane house prices increased 0.9% over November and units a more moderate 0.3%.

However from this point forward we will treat this data with caution as we have learned that the Brisbane results reported by Corelogic incorporate not just Brisbane, but also Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset – a geographical spread of more than 32,000 km2.

This is not Brisbane … this is South-East Queensland!

Nevertheless, at this time of the year at the back end of the Spring Season we expected to be reporting that a lot more properties became available for sale. But this has not been the case. Advertised stock levels have been persistently low, which has created a sense of urgency in the market as buyer demand had escalated.

A total of 4,039 fresh listings were added to the Brisbane market over the first four weeks of November, tracking almost 14% lower than a year ago and 11% below the decade average. This was the lowest number of new listings added to the market for this time of the year since 2012. Total listing numbers also remain relatively low across Brisbane. There were 20,704 properties advertised for sale across the market over the past four weeks, which was 8.1% lower than a year ago and 3.7% below the decade average.

Brisbane’s Prestige Market is firing with recent reports of multiple properties selling above $3M within a single week.  The biggest selling point for this market appears to be land size and the width of the frontages … and this segment is being driven by an increase in the number of people downsizing and pressure from southern buyers according to Sales Agents who have been involved in these transactions.

SQM Property index reports show that the asking price for Brisbane houses has increased 2.1% over the last 12 months, but has decreased 2.1% for units. Furthermore, rental yields continue to improve with a 2.6% increase in the weekly rents index for houses and a 1.4% increase in the same index for units.

With overall vacancy rates still trending downwards and at a City level sitting at 2.3% we clearly have a tight tenancy market. In fact, there are some suburbs in Brisbane that currently have vacancy rates less than 1% … proving there may already be a shortage of quality investment properties available for the growing rental demand that exists in some pockets.

Coming towards the end of the year, we expect a further drop in new listings … but often this time of year brings some increased activity in the off-market space. A lot of buyers will pause their search and focus on the festive season so demand may also drop off. These circumstances often create buying opportunities for those who are still actively looking to secure a property over the coming weeks. Let’s just hope by the time we are writing the next month’s Brisbane Property Market Update we see more new listings at the start of 2020 so that the current buyer demand can be met and so there is less competition for properties in the foreseeable future.