Brisbane property market on the upswing, barring the inner-city and West

Across Brisbane, dwelling values have risen 0.9% from the onset of the pandemic in March through to November, with dwelling values now at a record high, according to the latest CoreLogic data. Despite the recent uplift in the dwelling market across Brisbane, unit values remain 8.9% lower over the decade. Most Queensland dwelling markets are in upswing. Grouping Queensland into 19 sub-markets, 17 have seen dwelling value increases since the onset of COVID-19. The Brisbane Inner City and Brisbane West markets were the only dwelling markets to see a fall in values during the period. The Melbourne rental market has been particularly impacted by the pandemic. This may also end up impacting property values, and CoreLogic data suggests larger dwelling value declines are correlated with declines in rent values. "Nationally, housing market values did not see the large decline anticipated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing values fell just 1.9% between March and September before moving into a recovery trend, increasing 0.4% nationally through October and 0.8% in November," Eliza Owen, CoreLogic’s Head of Research Australia said. "Relative to previous housing market downturns, the current decline through to November seems relatively mild, with dwelling values just 0.7% below the pre-COVID levels. There are numerous factors which have contributed to the prevention of a larger downturn in dwelling values including the institutional, coordinated response to the pandemic, which have seen low borrowing costs, added incentives for first home buyers and the extension of mortgage repayment deferrals limiting forced sales." "Despite an initial slump in housing finance through the beginning of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the year to October saw a remarkable 14.5% lift in the volume of finance secured for the purchase of property, according to ABS lending indicators." "The post-COVID mortgage lending boost was driven by owner-occupiers including changeover buyers such as upsizers and downsizers, as well as buyers getting into the property market for the first time." "Money lent to first home buyers saw the fastest growth rate at 35.1% in the year to October, accounting for 22.1% of lending, up from 18.8% in the year prior. Meanwhile, investor mortgage lending increased less than 1% in the same period. There are several factors that contributed to this growth in first home buyer activity, including generational trends, monetary and fiscal incentives and lower dwelling values and competition," she concluded.