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South East Queensland and outer suburban areas have dominated a list of Australia\u2019s most contested property markets, where auctions are attracting hordes of active bidders, motivating sellers to start to mobilise.<\/p>\n
South East Queensland and outer suburban areas have dominated a list of Australia\u2019s most contested property markets, where auctions are attracting hordes of active bidders, motivating sellers to start to mobilise.<\/p>\n
Across the country, the average number of active bidders hit an all-time high in September of 4.1, with an imbalance between supply and demand continuing to fuel price growth.<\/p>\n
Bidding activity was even higher in the 10 most contested markets, ranging from an average of 6.6 bidders in Epping, NSW, to 9.6 average active bidders in Brisbane\u2019s Mansfield.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s most contested\u00a0markets<\/strong><\/p>\n Source: Ray White Group<\/p>\n Ray White Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee told Australian Property Investor Magazine<\/em> that many of the suburbs experiencing the most elevated levels of buyer demand shared a certain set of characteristics.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Central Coast is an area that has seen very strong demand primarily from people from Sydney, driven by people working differently and also by demand from people looking for holiday homes,\u201d Ms Conisbee said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also got Mansfield and Wishart; Brisbane is doing really well at the moment in terms of population flows and also price growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMansfield and Wishart are both near a very good public school, so that\u2019s been a driver there.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then you have got places like Blackburn North in Melbourne and also Epping in Sydney, and they are located in outer suburban areas.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think this trend of people wanting outer-suburbia and regional areas is still continuing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know that we are starting to see people going back into Sydney but there is still very strong demand for those regional areas\u201d<\/p>\n The only outlier, Ms Conisbee said, was Marsden, an entry level suburb located in Brisbane\u2019s Logan City.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMarsden is a very cheap suburb in Brisbane, and I think there might be an emergence of investor activity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these suburbs are quite expensive and Marsden is quite affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that investors are back in the market and South East Queensland at the moment is a top pick, primarily because of all of those population flows that are moving up there.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing it in the housing finance data; investors were pretty quiet at the beginning of the pandemic and they\u2019ve roared back in, and as a result, we are seeing a lot more of them out there looking to buy property.\u201d<\/p>\n The big takeaway from the data, Ms Conisbee said, was that outer suburbia and regional areas remained the top choice for most of the nation\u2019s property buyers.<\/p>\n For investors looking to buy in these in-demand suburbs, Ms Conisbee cautioned that the rampant price growth that\u2019s occurred in the past 12 months was likely to moderate in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market hasn\u2019t slowed yet, we are continuing to see very strong price growth but we do have restrictions to finance that are starting on the first of November, which will impact the rate of growth in prices particularly in lower cost areas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe restrictions will impact anyone who is borrowing up to their absolute limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at first homebuyers, they often borrow up to their limit, as do some investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe investors that will be impacted are those who are already highly-leveraged, I think that\u2019s probably the problem area.<\/p>\n \u201cBut investors are very diverse, and some of them won\u2019t be impacted at all by the restrictions – a first-time investor would be more impacted than someone who has built up a portfolio of properties.\u201d<\/p>\n Another factor likely to put the brakes on price growth is additional supply, with sellers in Sydney and Melbourne in particular expected to flood the market in line with the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions.<\/p>\n Ms Conisbee said listings across Ray White Group this week were 14 per cent higher than the same time last year, an indication that increased numbers of sellers are looking to cash in on the rampant buyer demand.<\/p>\n \u201cSeptember was probably the peak for buyer demand, October will be high as well, and going into November we are looking at a very late Spring selling season for Sydney and Melbourne, and a lot of properties coming to market will be great news for buyers,\u201d Ms Conisbee said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the real challenges for buyers has been that it\u2019s been a seller\u2019s market for the last 12 months, sellers have had total control and more supply would put more power into the buyers\u2019 hands, which is great news.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n