The figures show that during the 2015 March quarter investor finance commitments for the construction of new dwellings rose to $625 million, the highest they’ve been in Queensland since February 2008.
Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the figures showed the high level of confidence investors have in the Queensland market.
“This is a great result which shows that strength is returning to Queensland’s housing sector as investor confidence builds,” Pitt said.
“Looking ahead, sustained low interest rates are expected to support investor activity in Queensland's housing market.”
While the Queensland government believes the investment levels show investor confidence is on the rise in the Sunshine State, others don’t believe the outlook is quite so positive given announcements this week by Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) that lenders should cap their levels of lending to investors at 10%.
Julio De Laffitte, founder of JDL Stategies, which operates across Queensland believes this could harm any investor confidence that has been built up in the state recently.
“What APRA is doing is making it more difficult for investors to gain access to finance. They have openly sought to cap growth in investment lending and the reason is the hot property market in parts of Sydney and Melbourne,” De Laffitte said
“They have forgotten the rest of the country where property investment is helping to drive the economy, areas like South East Queensland and growing markets in regional NSW and Victoria will suffer the most.”
“What APRA aren’t taking into account is that areas like Queensland are some of the last that have seen the benefits of the low interest rates, lately we’ve gone some way to clawing our way back to a positive market, but if APRA make it harder to get money then any confidence built up recently could disappear.”
