Buyers warm to units in hard times: report

PROPERTY residential

The most affordable end of the Brisbane property market is shrinking rapidly – with house sales under $300,000 dropping 95 per cent in five years.

Brisbane’s Affordable Market Overview report prepared by PRDnationwide research analyst Josh Brown reveals sales below $300,000 have gone from 2307 transactions over the six months to December 2005, down to 125 sales in December 2010.
“The Brisbane market has definitely seen a shift in what is considered affordable,” he said.
All suburbs within the Brisbane Local Government Area which registered the highest volume of sales between $300,000-$399,000 have been identified.
Mr Brown said topping the list for houses were Forest Lake, Bracken Ridge, Inala, Brighton and Acacia Ridge. They were followed by Zilmere, Bald Hills, Banyo, Algester and Tingalpa.
“A total of 117 house sales in Forest lake transacted in the affordable price bracket of $300,000-$399,000,” said Mr Brown.
“This accounted for 55 per cent of all house sales between July and December 2010, highlighting this suburb as one of Brisbane’s most affordable suburbs.”
The researcher said what was considered “affordable” had jumped by about $100,000 in only five years.
“The prospect of buying a house within the $200,000 to $299,999 range within a practical distance of the CBD is no longer a viable option,” he said.
Mr Brown said this had prompted Generation Y buyers to look at purchasing units and townhouses within more attractive areas, which had a lesser impact on their lifestyle.
“People are becoming less inclined to make purchases which adversely affect their lifestyle and therefore units, representing an affordable compromise, are becoming more popular,” he said.
In the same price bracket of $300,000 to $399,000 a buyer could secure a unit of within a five kilometre radius of the CBD – versus potentially 15 kilometres away for a house.
Suburbs which recorded the highest proportion of unit sales within the $300,000-$399,000 price bracket were Brisbane City, Coorparoo, Fortitude Valley, Calamvale and Nundah.