Brisbane house prices steady in 2012: REIQ
Brisbane house prices have remained relatively steady over 2012, according to the latest quarterly median house price data released by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
Median house prices are up 0.4% in the December 2012 quarter to $510,000.
This is the second consecutive quarterly increase for Brisbane house prices.
REIQ chief executive Anton Kardash says the latest quarterly result demonstrates that the second half of 2012 was one of improvement.
“This is the second consecutive quarter where the market has exceeded expectations,” he says.
“Historically the December quarter is quieter than the September quarter - and we did have a very strong September quarter last year – but what these figures are showing us is that buyers continue to be more active than the year before.”
The volume of houses sold in Queensland is up 8%, year-on-year.
“There is no doubt that the Queensland market is improving due to the low interest rate environment, increasing confidence levels, an element of pent-up demand, as well as a more settled economic outlook here and overseas,” Kardash says.
“Upgrader suburbs in Brisbane did particularly well over the period, with many buyers taking advantage of low interest rates to make their move,” he says.
“Unfortunately, however, the numbers of first-home buyers active in the Queensland market continues to trend down following the removal of the first-home owners’ grant in October last year.”
One of the better-performing Brisbane suburbs over the quarter was Ashgrove, where median house prices jumped 11.9% in the quarter to end the year 3.2% up on 2011 at $755,000.
Bracken Ridge also finished the year strong, with median house prices up 13.9% for the quarter and 2.7% for the year to $428,750.
The median house price in the suburb of Nundah is $631,250 in December, up 9.8% for the December quarter and 9% for the year.
The median Brisbane house price fell 0.4% over 2012 from $512,000 in the December quarter 2011.
In the December quarter of 2011 the median Brisbane house price fell 0.2% to $499,000.
Photo by bertknot, courtesy of Flickr
