Unit market eases: REIQ

PROPERTY residential

The Queensland unit and townhouse market has not been immune from this year’s natural disasters and patchy economic conditions, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) says.

The REIQ’s March quarter Queensland market monitor report shows that median unit and townhouse prices eased across much of south-east Queensland during the first three months of 2011. While a number of regional centres bucked this trend to record positive growth, this was mainly due to the construction of new unit or townhouse developments, or the sale of more expensive existing stock, in these areas over the period. The number of preliminary unit and townhouse sales in Queensland decreased 15 per cent over the March quarter.
“The unit and townhouse market has been impacted by lower numbers of first-home buyers and investors, who are the type of buyers usually the most interested in this more affordable segment of the market,” REIQ chairman Pamela Bennett said.
“First-home buyers continue to languish at about 15 per cent of the Queensland residential property market, while investors appear to have adopted a wait-and-see approach until a clearer picture emerges on interest rates and the economy. “The prestige market is also struggling with the number of preliminary sales of units and townhouses for more than $1 million across Queensland dropping about 40 per cent compared to the December quarter.”
The median unit and townhouse price in Brisbane eased 1.4 per cent to $395,000 over the quarter. On the Gold and Sunshine coasts, the median unit price decreased 2.7 per cent to $355,000 and 2.1 per cent to $350,000 respectively.
“REIQ agents continue to report a significant drop in demand compared to the same period last year, but this is creating wonderful opportunities for buyers with many sellers having to be very realistic about what price they can achieve in the current conditions if they want to make a sale,” Ms Bennett said.
Positive median price growth was recorded for the Toowoomba, the Fraser Coast, Rockhampton and Townsville local government areas over the March quarter. Over the period, there was an increase in sales in higher-priced stock in Toowoomba and the Fraser Coast which pushed up the median sale price.
Rockhampton and Townsville both recorded median price increases of 4.5 per cent over the period. As Rockhampton’s unit market continues to be quite small, this result was due to higher priced unit sales in Yeppoon, while sales in new waterfront developments in North Ward and South Townsville have underpinned that region’s result over the quarter.