'More buyers than we've ever dealt with before'- regional QLD market swells

Australia's largest capital cities will likely always get the lion's share of media attention when it comes to the property market. 

But since Covid has come along and disrupted the way people live and work, there's been plenty of talk of those seeking a sea or tree change, and regional areas have found themselves coming to the fore of the conversation. 

Regional Queensland's property market has in fact outpaced Brisbane's, not just in April but for all of 2021 so far, chalking up a +7.8 per cent year-to-date median home price increase compared to the capital's +6.5 per cent uptick according to CoreLogic. 

There are plenty of examples of heavy-hitting results all over the state as buyers seeking a bit more space and bang for their buck look beyond the big smoke. 

We spoke with agents in Ipswich and the Gold Coast about some recent sales that have far exceeded their expectations. 

Ipswich property sells $90,000 over 2020 valuation

At under an hour's travel time from central Brisbane, Ipswich has proved very popular with those seeking a lifestyle change without venturing too far from the city.  

"We're dealing with more buyers than we've ever dealt with before," said Jordan Strudwick, sales manager at NGU Real Estate in the Ipswich suburb of Ripley. 

"We're getting heaps of people from Brisbane who are selling and buying out here."

The influx has turned in some major results in the area, like 6 Travis St in Yamanto.

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-car house on an 800sqm block sits on the west side of the suburb, near to the RAAF Amberley Base which is currently undergoing a major expansion. 

Mr Strudwick said the property received a bank valuation of $410,000 12 months ago, and when he appraised it six months ago he told the owners they should consider listing for offers over $429,000.

"It had a brand new kitchen, massive entertainment area, room for a caravan...room for a pool, a big back yard."

As it turns out, the house had a very broad appeal, attracting ten private inspections as soon as it was listed and drawing 24 groups to the first open home. 

Of the ten inspecting privately, four parties made offers, and the Saturday open home netted another seven offers. 

Given the hot market conditions, Mr Strudwick had upped the bar to offers over $449,000, and within three days the house had sold for $500,000 cash—a big leap above the asking price, but still what he considers to be good value. 

"I'm getting a lot of buyers who really like Centenary suburbs like Jindalee, Sinnamon Park, Seventeen Mile Rocks, those types of areas, and essentially we're 15 minutes from the Centenary once you get out to Ipswich," he said. 

"Here you're probably getting $300,000 worth of value. If you put that [Travis St] house in Jindalee or Sinnamon Park, it's probably an $850,000 house."

In terms of his broad approach to the influx to the area, Mr Strudwick says it's a matter of capitalising on that nervous energy to drive home a big, quick sale. 

"The strategy we have at the moment is that any new properties that we're listing, essentially we will push all the buyers to the very first open home on the Saturday. 

"We'll get anywhere between 10 to 20 buyers at most open homes now on the first weekend on the market and have it sold by the Saturday afternoon. 

"Competition is what gets the best prices. We work for our owner to get the best price, and there's so much competition out there at the moment it's ridiculous."

Gold Coast home nets 30 offers in a week

The Gold Coast is another region that's seen plenty of action of late, and if the sale of 32 Riverpark Drive in Nerang is anything to go on, there might be plenty more action to come. 

Danny Jenkins, a sales consultant at Ray White Nerang, was behind the runaway success of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom, double-garage house. 

"The place needs some work, it was really run down, but we had over 100 inspections in a week and had nearly 30 offers," he said, adding that a listing price of $495,000 had been set. 

The property managed to catch the eye of a broad cross-section of buyers including interstate investors, downsizers, first home buyers and couples looking for a renovation project. 

Finding that sweet spot between prospective buyers was also helped by the property's potential: it's a 600sqm corner block in a suburb that's gaining traction. 

"[Nerang is] a great location—quick onto the motorway and close to the beach suburbs, and it's nice and easy to get up to Brisbane," Mr Jenkins explained, adding that a lot of buyers are expanding their search areas in order to stay ahead of rising prices and to combat the speed at which properties are being snapped up. 

In the end, the house went well beyond the $495,000 asking price, with an ex-builder securing the purchase with an unconditional offer of $569,000.

"[He's] looking to live in the property and make it his own," Mr Jenkins said. "It's not going to be flipped and sold immediately and it's not going to be put in a rent role, it's going to become a home and basically [fulfil its potential].

"I think people are prepared to do a lot of work on a property now, they see the only way of getting into the market is to buy something that needs some work, which was not so much the case 18 months ago."

Perhaps surprisingly, it's not just larger blocks that are performing well in Nerang either. 

"Anything we can get to the market is selling and selling fast, and that's from apartments through to million dollar-plus properties and acreage," he said. 

"I actually had two apartments in Varsity Lakes at the end of last year and the start of this year, they weren't getting nearly as much attention as freehold houses. I eventually sold them both but it did take a little while. 

"Just over a month ago I listed an exact replica in the same complex, the same floorplan as one of the previous apartments, and I had more inspections in the first week than I had in two or three months with the two a couple of months beforehand. 

"It immediately sold for $50,000 more than the previous one. It's from top to bottom, it's not in any specific area, it's all areas, all types of properties. Apartments, houses, acreage, land, whatever it is. If you can get it to market, it's going to get a lot of attention."

What are the agents expecting for the rest of 2021?

Between banks, pundits and the media, there's a fair amount of confidence that we'll see continued growth for Australia's property market throughout this year. The question is, how much? 

In terms of what's happening in Ipswich, Mr Strudwick thinks it's more rises ahead thanks to the ongoing demand. 

"I'm hoping it keeps going higher, but I think there should be really good steady growth over the next three months," he said. "There are plenty of buyers out there.

"In regards to upgrading and moving, downsizing, whatever, I don't think there's ever been a better time to do it if anyone wants to sell."

Mr Jenkins also foresees demand continuing to outrun supply. 

"I think things are going to continue as is. There are a few agents at the moment who are starting to think that things are slowing down at the upper end of the market," he said.

"I think anything under $800,000 is going to continue to do well for the rest of this year. It'll be interesting to see what happens above that. But really, without something changing, nothing's going to change.

"The two big things that eventually will make the change are either the number of listings will rise—because at the moment we can't keep up stock-wise, everything goes so fast—and the next thing is interest rates. And it doesn't look like anything is going to change there in any great rush."

Ray White Nerang's general manager Brenton Buttigieg has a slightly more conservative outlook. 

"We're still seeing some consistency in the market," he said, "however, I think from our general numbers we're starting to see that turn. Some of our other commentators have said the peak has come and it's already been, and I'd probably tend to agree with that statement.

"Most of the time that narrative of those huge property boom prices has been pushed so hard by the media now that I think it's starting to scare some people away, and they're starting to sit tight and wait for things to calm down," Buttigieg said. 

"And of course, that's what causes the calm-down, when people sit back and say 'you know what, I'm not going to jump in on this.'" 

He conceded that, with tax time around the corner, this is a period when there tends to be an annual dip in activity.

"After EOFY we'll see if this is a matter of time of year or whether it's a change in the market again. Come July I'll be able to get a decent observation, right now it's a bit too rich to say this is the beginning of the downturn when it could be just a little bit of a slouch."

Whichever way it goes, Mr Buttigieg expects a corner has been turned.

"I think this boom has set a new benchmark, so I do think we'll still see some consistency in the market. 

"I'd basically say that I don't think we're going to go for any sort of major surge, but I think we'll still see a strong market through the rest of the year. I think we're going to plateau a little bit now."