The Real Estate Institute of Queensland – REIQ – has expressed concern over news that one of the big four banks had tightened its lending criteria for buyers purchasing in inner-city Brisbane.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said it was concerning that some lenders were making it tougher to get into home ownership.
“Property is cyclical and while supply is forecast to exceed demand in the apartment market in some inner Brisbane suburbs over the next 12 months, we know from vast experience that demand will inevitably catch up and property owners will experience capital growth in their investment,” she said.
“We don’t view those inner suburbs as especially risky. In fact, their close proximity to work, transport and entertainment will drive demand for these apartments for many years to come.
“The fundamentals that drive the property market are jobs and population growth. The southeast corner of Queensland has weathered the GFC and we have enjoyed consistent steady growth for the past two to three years. We expect this to continue and the data supports this forecast,” she said.
The net migration rate for Queensland is still at around 1500 people per quarter and most of those settle in the southeast corner, driving continued demand for accommodation. The vacancy rate in the inner Brisbane apartment market is currently 3.7% – just outside the REIQ’s classification of the healthy range (2.5% – 3.5%).
“We expect that the vacancy rate for the September quarter will lift by a small amount and this is in line with expectations. We also know that supply is slowing, with many developers who have projects within the inner city hitting pause on those projects and waiting until the market strengthens, which is a good sign of the market self-correcting,” Ms Mercorella said.