“What has been different for south-east Queensland overall has been the pressure from interstate migration,” she said.
“When you have a look at the pandemic upswing, it was actually stronger in Brisbane than it was in Sydney and Melbourne. We had these different demographic shifts that were playing out within the Brisbane housing market.
“People were attracted by affordability that Brisbane still offers relative to our other major capital cities — it still has a lower price — but we’ve seen that price point shift quite dramatically.”
Powell said south-east Queensland’s rental crisis, coupled with a surge in overseas migration, could soon place more demand on the housing market.
“I do wonder, with this interplay between the rentals and sales market, whether we’ll see some overseas migrants actually skip the rental phase and just go straight into the purchasing market, if they can afford to,” she said.
That was potentially bad news for young Queenslanders looking to get into the market and Powell said reform was needed to ensure the Australian dream of homeownership was not lost to up-and-coming generations.
“It needs to be the right homes, it needs to be affordable, and it also needs to be in the areas people want to live.”
Opening up housing supply and embracing concepts such as modular housing, which can quickly and cheaply build basic affordable housing, were essential, Powell said.
But while Queensland’s cap on rent increases would deter some investors, Powell said the state’s relative affordability compared with southern states would ensure it remained attractive.
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InvestorKit founder and research head Arjun Paliwal said four Queensland regions stood out for potential investors — Bundaberg, Townsville, Rockhampton and south Cairns.
“Not only do these areas have affordable house prices, but they also show the potential for further capital growth, healthy rental yields and expected rental growth in the short term due to the high pressure in their sale and rental markets,” he said.
“These locations also stand out because of internal migration towards affordability and lifestyle alongside their thriving local economies due to industry diversification and infrastructure investments.”
