The Granite Belt of Queensland has bucked the grain trend, becoming one of the few areas in Australia to report an increase in house prices.
the main points:
- House prices on the granite belt rose slightly in August
- The median home price in the area is $386,833
- There are expectations that the rural housing market will weaken in the coming months
The CoreLogic Home Value Index, released this week, showed that the Australian housing market fell 1.6 percent in August, the largest national monthly decline since 1983.
Real estate prices in the regional areas also saw a decline, falling by 1.5 percent.
But home prices on the granite belt, which includes the towns of Warwick and Stanthorpe, rose 0.5 percent in August, with the median home price now at $386,833.
Granite Belt has been one of the strongest housing markets in regional Australia, ranking fifth across the country over the past three months with a 4.9 per cent increase in home values.
Home prices in the granite belt have increased by 27.7 percent in the past 12 months.
Kylie Greene is one of those people who lead the characters, and she recently moved to the area from the Sunshine Coast with her family to run a local hotel.
Ms Green said the city’s lifestyle and friendly community made it an attractive place to move to.
“People are smiling at you on the street, it’s really cool,” she said.
Greene said that since moving to Stanthorpe, she has noticed firsthand the growing interest in the city’s property market from investors and landlords.
“We’ll get some to come and stay at the hotel overlooking the property,” she said.
“Lots of investors were heading to the area knowing that it was only two hours away from Brisbane, and it was now being seen as a tourist destination as well.”
Long life style boom
Logan Steele, a real estate agent in Stanthorpe, said home prices in the city are being driven by people looking for a different lifestyle.
He said there’s a mix of younger couples looking to get away from city life and “retired retirees” looking for a rustic lifestyle.
“In my 30 years in the industry, I’ve never seen a boom this long,” Steele said.
“It’s a lifestyle choice people make and that drives everything…it’s not greed.”
Steele said high interest rates were not a concern for many people buying in Stanthorpe due to the affordability of real estate in the area.
He said buyers often have large deposits or can buy a property right away.
Future prices may drop
A further decline in home prices is expected over the coming months across the country.
CoreLogic’s director of research, Tim Lawless, said housing values in the granite belt have remained reasonably flat, despite the recent wave of price hikes.
“Rural markets seem more resilient in the face of higher interest rates at the moment,” he said.
“However, there is a good chance that as interest rates rise further we will see housing demand decline more broadly, including in rural Australia.”
Immigration to the Southern Downs is declining, too, with new data from the Australia Regional Institute showing that the number of people moving to the region fell 8 per cent between March and June of this year.
But Steele said he expects interest in homes in Stanthorpe to continue for some time.
“Once we get one or two new good rolls on the market at attractive prices, we are amazed again,” he said.