House price bounce back
BRIAN THOMAS
12mar06
THE Queensland housing market has defied the odds, bucking predictions of doom and gloom by recording widespread price rises.
The latest official figures show almost every major local-government area in the state recorded a rise in median house prices in 2005.
Regional centres in north Queensland, including Mackay, Rockhampton and Townsville, were the state's best performers, storming ahead by up to 35 per cent.
In the southeast, Ipswich (7.3 per cent), Beaudesert (4.5 per cent) and Logan (3.9 per cent) led the growth.
Brisbane's median house price edged just ahead in 2005 but jumped 1.4 per cent in the last three months of the year, signalling the prospect of a new surge in property values.
The figures, compiled by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, have been released exclusively to The Sunday Mail.
They follow an Australian Bureau of Statistics report last month showing the strongest lift in property prices in two years and raising the possibility of a second housing bubble in all capital cities.
The REIQ figures, which show most Queenslanders who have owned property for the past five years have doubled their money, fly in the face of miserable forecasts by interstate analysts about the state's housing market.
REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said the figures proved Queensland had experienced "an extremely soft landing" after the property boom.
"I get very frustrated with southern experts who told us southeast Queensland would suffer further falls," he said.
"These figures prove them wrong."
Mr McGrath predicted prices could continue to rise across the state if interest rates did not increase.
"It is a very good result for property owners in Queensland, and it looks promising for the future," he said.
"If interest rates remain stable, and the forecast looks good, then the market will kick up again."
The REIQ figures showed that house prices in regional areas slowed from their dizzy heights over the past two years, but still reflected healthy gains.
Mackay led the way with a 34.8 per cent increase in the median house price to $310,000. Rockhampton jumped 26.3 per cent to $175,500 and Townsville by 20.5 per cent to $265,000.
The Gold Coast median house price rose 2.4 per cent in 2005 to $385,000, but staged an even stronger rally of 3.3 per cent in the December quarter – its best result since late 2003.
Despite a 6.4 per cent fall in value, Surfers Paradise has the state's most expensive real estate with a 2005 median house price of $1,170,000.
On the Sunshine Coast, Noosa was the only local government area surveyed
to go backwards in 2005, suffering a 4.6 per cent drop in median
house price to $418,000.