- Australia’s economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic has been driven by the success of its east-coast property market, according to PEXA
- Queensland outperformed its southern neighbours, recording more property settlements than Victoria and drawing closer to New South Wales
- Greater Brisbane was also the standout capital city on the east coast, with a 52 per cent growth in property sales year on year
- FY 21 numbers from PEXA suggest regional buyers were less likely than city buyers to fund their new purchase with a loan
Australia’s economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic has been driven by the success of its east-coast property market, according to PEXA.
The end of financial year report from the property settlement platform found that property sales have been driven by low-interest rates, government stimulus and increased buyer demand.
During a COVID-19-affected financial year, Queensland outperformed its southern neighbours, recording more property settlements than Victoria and drawing closer to New South Wales.
Greater Brisbane was also the standout capital city on the east coast, with a 52 per cent growth in property sales year on year, compared to a two per cent drop in Greater Melbourne in the 2019-2020 financial year.
PEXA senior research manager Mike Gill said it has witnessed the impact the pandemic had on the eastern seaboard.
“The Sunshine State has had an incredible year in property, with Greater Brisbane jumping more than 50 per cent on last year’s figures, and the rest of Queensland delivering significant year-on-year gains,” he said.
“We have seen solid results in New South Wales across the state with settlements up 26 per cent, and Victoria’s 10 per cent year-on-year growth was propped up by strong results in regional and commercial sectors.
“Most notably, we have seen a trend across the east-coast of greater activity in our regional areas, with sale settlements outside of capital cities up 36 per cent in New South Wales, 28 per cent in Victoria, and 23 per cent in Queensland year-on-year.”
CoreLogic has posted strong annual price growth in the eastern seaboard, with Canberra (15.6 per cent) Sydney (11.2 per cent) and Brisbane (10.6 per cent) all enjoying double-digit growth at or above the national average, while Melbourne (five per cent) lags behind.
PEXA’s Property and Mortgage Insights report also analyses consumer lending behaviour, with FY 21 numbers suggesting regional buyers were less likely than city buyers to fund their new purchase with a loan.
“Close to 80 per cent of capital city settlements procured were funded with a new loan, compared to only 66 per cent for regional settlements, suggesting metropolitan homeowners are moving to regional areas to take advantage of lower priced properties, flexible working arrangements and a change in lifestyle,” Mr Gill said.
“There also appeared to be greater consumer preference towards major banks for new loans in New South Wales and Victoria due to highly competitive rates, particularly for fixed rate loans and special offers, such as cash back incentives. Queensland consumers bucked this trend, with the gap narrowing in favour of the non-major lenders within the state from January 2021.”