Tight real estate market: Brisbane house sales hit pandemic-style low

The number of houses sold in Brisbane has hit its lowest level since the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic – just 272 homes short of a new decade low, with a $50,000 drop from peak prices.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data found there were over 7,100 established house transfers made during the December quarter 2022, the lowest level the Qld capital has seen since the three months to June 2020 when a mere 6,900 houses were sold during the start of the pandemic.

Only a dozen other quarters have produced worst results for Brisbane house transfers – almost all of which were during the 2011 100-year flood aftermath or the continued fallout after the GFC.

The median price of houses that changed hands in Brisbane during the December 2022 quarter was $750,000, which was a $50,000 drop from the $800,000 peak experienced during both the March and June quarters last year. Houses in the Qld regions had a median sale price of $528,000, a top four result – with the top three all also in 2022, led by $550,000 in June 2022.

Where prices are holding at record highs is unit/apartment sales where Brisbane’s median was $480,000 in December quarter while regional Queensland’s was higher at $525,500, driven by the huge popularity of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

House sale numbers in the Queensland regions also beat the capital by almost 2,700 in December quarter – maintaining a sales lead it has held since September 2017.

ABS said the preliminary estimate of the total value of residential dwellings in Australia in the December quarter 2022 was $9.615 trillion – a fall of $271.5b from the September quarter.

“Of the total value of residential dwellings, $9,187.5 billion was owned by households,” ABS said. “In the December quarter 2022, the total value of residential dwellings fell in all states and territories except WA and the Northern Territory.”

The average price of a home in Australia fell $28,700 to $881,200 in the December 2022 quarter, with NSW ($1,130,500), ACT ($929,200) and Victoria ($894,400).

*This post was originally published on https://www.realestate.com.au/news/tight-real-estate-market-brisbane-house-sales-hit-pandemicstyle-low/