Queensland’s property market is finally clawing its way back, posting positive results for the first time in 18 months. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s (REIQ) March quarter median house price report found property prices across most of the sunshine state increased – in some cases significantly. REIQ chief executive officer Anton Kardash says perhaps the best piece of news is that some of the tourism centres posted very healthy results. “It’s still too early to tell whether this renewed confidence is here to stay, but a number of economic indicators, as well as lower interest rates, mean the future of our property market is certainly looking up,” Kardash says. The top performer across all major regions was the Fraser Coast, which posted a median house price growth of 7.8 per cent to $290,000 over the March quarter. The second best performer was Cairns, which recorded a median house price growth of 4.5 per cent to $350,000. Another tourism region that performed well was the Whitsundays, where the median house price increased by 4.1 per cent to $350,000 over the March quarter, with sales up 28 per cent. The Sunshine Coast also experienced a massive increase – up 24 per cent compared to the December quarter. Queensland’s resource centres continue to experience strong demand from buyers, however property price growth in Gladstone appears to have plateaued this quarter, after posting a median house price increase of 16.5 per cent over the year ending March. Even Brisbane appears to be slowly coming back after the floods in early 2011 – the median house price increased 1.2 per cent to $505,000 over the March quarter. “A number of economic indicators, as well as lower interest rates, mean the future of our property market is certainly looking up,”
