Brisbane has been one of the strongest performing property markets over the past 12 months, and the growth is set to continue throughout 2008.
The Queensland state capital has been a frontrunner in terms of property price growth in the past 12 months, with values increasing by almost 19% in the twelve months to December 2007, reports Residex.
Braxton Chase CEO Andrew Donnelly says that Brisbane’s strong performance is likely to continue, with double-digit growth expected across all residential sectors in 2008.
He believes that economic growth and forecast commercial uptake in the CBD will continue to power the inner city markets, although he suggests that investors should look for growth to accelerate in middle and outer suburbs.
“Affordability is stretched to the limit in inner Brisbane, meaning investors would do well to move further afield,” Donnelly says. “There are several designated growth areas, or ‘satellite CBD’s’, such as Chermside and Wynnum, where entry levels are reasonable and the outlook for capital growth good.”
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) also suggests that investors seeking entry-level opportunities in the Brisbane market should look at the apartment market.
"Many people are now recognising that there is a way to get into the property market – and that is units or townhouses," says REIQ chairman, Peter McGrath.
"Units and townhouses continue to be affordable options, with these housing types still having medians under $250,000 in many parts of the state. Indeed, people can get a foothold in some of the Sunshine State's more prestigious suburbs by investing in a unit or townhouse."
McGrath says that inner ring suburbs within five kilometres of the CBD continue to perform well, with West End, Milton, Annerley, Hamilton and Woolloongabba all recording very impressive increases in capital growth in recent months.
"While the medians in some of these suburbs have been affected by varying quality of stock and properties with water views sold, units and townhouses within close proximity of the city or even within prestigious locations remain a viable alternative for many people," McGrath says.
As the dark-horse-to-darling of the Australian property market, Adelaide’s residential market outperformed all other capital markets in 2007, and is likely to do the same throughout 2008