Where are Australia's standout property markets? Hotspotting's Terry Ryder

EXPERT OBSERVER

Anyone who has been paying attention will know that there are plenty of solid to strong property markets around Australia.

The collapse in prices that attention-seeking economists forecast in March and regularly since then simply hasn’t happened. Of the 15 major market jurisdictions in Australia (eight capital cities and seven state regional markets), 11 have house prices higher than at the start of the year.

First-home buyers, boosted by government assistance, are very busy and other types of owner-occupiers are active also. Investors are starting to get off the fence and follow the trends that are pointing to growth in key areas.

So where are those prime targets, which currently have the ingredients for growth? I recently explored that subject with buyers’ agent Philip Robison as a guest on his podcast series. Under the topic heading of “Game-changing trends supercharging markets,” we discussed the key trends currently driving markets:

1. The cities with the virus under control have higher confidence, more activity, lower vacancies and busier markets.

2. The Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle, well under way before the pandemic, has been exacerbated by the virus shutdown periods.

3. First-home buyers are the most active cohort in the market at present, driven by high levels of govt assistance and low interest rates.

4. Vacancies are very low in many markets, which means rising rents - and history shows that prices tend to follow.

So which locations are positively impacted by these key trends?

1. Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra and Hobart all have few pandemic issues and they have busy property markets. Adelaide has one of the most competitive markets in the nation, Perth has been a huge increase in sales activity in recent months, Brisbane markets are rising steadily and Canberra is a standout because it has delivered price growth every month since March.

2. The Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle is mostly about regional Australia: the rising jurisdictions include regional Victoria near Melbourne, Regional NSW near Sydney and Regional Qld near Brisbane. Brisbane itself is also getting momentum from the Exodus trend, particularly from people vacating Sydney and looking for a city less congested and more affordable.

3. First-home buyers are busy in the outer-ring suburbs of most capital cities, but particularly in places like Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. They’re also targeting regional cities and towns, especially those within striking distance of the big cities - so Regional Victoria near Melbourne, Regional NSW near Sydney, Regional Qld near Brisbane.

4. Vacancies are particularly low in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra and Hobart, and in most key regional markets across Australia. It’s not uncommon to find locations where vacancies are below 1%. Agencies across the country are crying out for rental listings.

So, where does that point us? Well, some locations are being boosted by all of those four trends.

Therefore, the locations benefiting most from all of these dominant trends are ...

• Adelaide,
• Brisbane,
• Regional Victoria near Melbourne,
• Regional NSW near Sydney,
• Regional Qld near Brisbane.

They’re not the only markets that are pumping strongly, but they are the standouts.

Terry Ryder is the founder of hotspotting.com.au
ryder@hotspotting.com.au
twitter.com/hotspotting