Nov 5, 2024
It’s long been the case that the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, have attracted the highest levels of property investment – just by sheer weight of numbers.
But Victoria has lost its spot among the big two of property investment and is now being overtaken by Queensland.
Meanwhile, Queensland now leads the nation is overall real estate transactions, including purchases by both home-buyers and investors.
This is despite Victoria having a population of 7 million, versus 5.5 million in Queensland.
It provides further evidence that investors are deserting Victoria because of the raft of anti-landlord measures from the State Government, with more still to come.
And that Queensland is where buyers are all kinds are heading.
Analysis of ABS figures shows that, a year ago, 26 per cent of investor loans were for Victoria properties and around 22 per cent for Queensland.
More recently, the balance has shifted with Victoria dropping to 23 per cent of investor loans and Queensland continuing to rise.
Money.com.au says investors are abandoning Victoria for several reasons, including Victoria’s additional taxes on investors, and are flocking to Queensland.
Home Loans expert Mansour Soltani says: “Queensland is emerging as the new promised land. It has everything property investors look for including a strong local economy, population growth, expanding regional markets and ongoing infrastructure projects.”
Queensland is leading the nation with a 36 per cent year-on-year increase in investor loans, compared with the national average of 21 per cent.
Regional markets such as Townsville, Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Gladstone are offering low entry costs and above-average rental yields.
Soltani also says: “Queensland is not only leading investor activity — owner-occupied loans in the state grew by 12 per cent year-on-year, while no other market grew by more than 6 per cent, and New South Wales saw no growth.”
Realestate.com.au reports that nearly $40 billion was spent on residential property in Queensland in the past quarter, with the state recording the highest number of home sales in the country in the last three months.
Brisbane’s median dwelling price has also extended its lead over Melbourne’s — climbing to $885,000 in October, while Melbourne sits at $780,000, according to CoreLogic.
New figures from digital settlements platform, PEXA, show over 48,000 home sales were finalised across Queensland in the September quarter, with home buyers spending $38 billion — 27 per cent more than the same period a year ago.
The postcodes with the highest number of home sales in the three months were found in Toowoomba, the Gold Coast and Mackay.
Homebuyers also moved to regional coastal areas such as Bargara near Bundaberg and Urangan in the Hervey Bay region, as well as new housing development areas in Logan City and Ipswich City on the fringes of Greater Brisbane.