Brisbane’s unit and townhouse market appears to be on the up, according to recently released data, with mixed results highlighting last year's hotspots and not-spots for unit capital growth.
On the whole, REIQ CEO Anton Kardash said that December quarter results were encouraging, with most regions posting their most robust quarterly price results since before the natural disasters early last year.
According to REIQ figures, the median unit and townhouse price in Brisbane increased 2% over the quarter to hit $400,000. The Gold Coast increased 5.3% to hit $350,000, while Toowoomba saw a 2.1% quarterly rise ($245,000).
“As we move into 2012, REIQ accredited agencies are reporting healthier levels of enquiry with first home buyers and investors especially taking a keen interest in the more affordable unit and townhouse market,” said Kardash.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland figures for Brisbane showed Newstead appeared to be the clear winner in terms of capital growth among units last year, with phenomenal annual capital growth rate of 28.7%.
However, REIQ commentary reveals that the suburb’s median unit price has been affected by varying quality of stock sold, varying quantities of new properties sold and varying numbers of waterfront properties sold.
Alderley, on the other hand, was considered unaffected by such anomalies, posting an annual capital growth rate of 10.5%.
Woolloongabba has fulfilled the predictions of several pundits in recording strong annual growth for units of 8.2%. Holland Park West also significantly outperformed the LGA average, recording growth of 7.2% over the year.
Looking at the rest of the suburbs from the REIQ's list where median prices were considered to be unaffected, Taigum appears to have been last year's unit not-spot, with negative annual growth of -7.3%.
Greenslopes (-6.8%), Yeronga (-6.7%), Morningside and Wakerley (both -5.6%) were the next worst performers from last year according to the REIQ's data.
The results:
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Source: REIQ/PriceFinder December quarter 2011. Suburbs whose median prices were tagged as being affected by statistical anomalies have been omitted.
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