Population Growth and Property Prices 2022
Weekly Real Estate Market Update with Leigh Martinuzzi
The ABS recently released figures relating to Australia’s population growth. It highlighted that the Australian population grew by 70,000 people by the end of September 2021. It also highlighted the interstate migration figures, which, I think can shed some light on why buyer demand in Queensland remains above the average. And although the property market is shifting from its peak, I feel we still have reason to believe that prices will remain steady for the year ahead and not suddenly crash.
Up until the end of September 2021, Queensland leads the way with population growth recording 58,000 new residents. As the chart below highlights, that is an increase of 1,100 people per week, which is considerably high compared to all other states. Check out Tasmania for example, which grew by four people per week and then Victoria lost over 600 people per week or 33,000 people in that year. I think this indicates that the Sunshine State will see higher demand for most things, food, infrastructure, transport, and property. I have certainly noticed a few more cars on the road.
The good news for property owners is that, yes, while there are talks of an interest rate rise and various other factors that will likely have an impact on buyer activity and property prices, I think we can expect to still see favourable buyer demand throughout the remainder of the year. And although international travel has opened, I feel that we still won’t see a huge amount of people jumping on a plane to move back overseas just yet. Post elections and perhaps later this year that number might jump.
With all that said, sellers should expect relatively strong buyer enquiry and interest for the remainder of the year. The aspect of selling that will change and that we are already seeing early signs of, is that buyers will be more diligent with their purchasing decisions. The urgency that we experienced in 2021 has passed, which means longer times on the markets when selling. However, unlike the market here two or three years ago, I expect sellers will still have many buyers interested in purchasing their homes. Sellers may just have to be a little more patient and negotiable on price and the terms and conditions of sale.
Nationally, property price growth has slowed. It has dropped from its annual 30-year historic peak of 25% to now around 18%. In March prices grew by 0.3% the slowest growth rate since May 2020. However, not all areas are the same. As you can see from the chart below the Sunshine Coast’s annual growth rate at the end of March remains high at 30.7%. South-East Queensland is still outperforming most of the country, and again this I feel can be attributed to the higher-than-normal population growth. Queensland’s population growth will stabilise and fall back to its previous levels of about 800 per week, however, that is still a fair amount of properties that will be needed to keep up with new residents.
As always, if there is anything I can help you with please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Grab a copy of the March Quarterly Newsletter here.
Auction Clearance Rates (Preliminary). Week Ending 17th of April
- Queensland – 64% (83/1213)
- NSW – 86% (239/1304)
- Victoria – 84% (123/1368)
- ACT – 87% (47/76)
- South Australia – 85% (46/367)
- Tasmania – 100% (21/187)
- Western Australia – 100% (1/718)
- Northern Territory – 33% (3/34)
*(Auctions/Private Sales)
REVIEW(s) OF THE WEEK
Helpful and Prompt
“Leigh made the purchasing process so easy! Always helpful and prompt. Thank you Leigh! We are so happy in our new family home.” – Buyer
Found our forever home through Leigh!
“Great experience dealing with Leigh. Thanks to him inviting us to a VIP inspection, we were the first ones to snap up our new home. If we were to ever sell, we would definitely use him as our agent. Highly recommend.” – Buyer
