Blame Melbourne for Brisbane’s Price Growth

We’d barely recovered from New Year’s Eve celebrations when the first property headline of the year had real estate pundits talking.

“Brisbane’s median dwelling value just overtook Melbourne”

Evading the COVID-19 property curse which hit the Victorian capital like a sledgehammer, Brissie’s recently climbed the ranks to become the nation’s third most expensive city.

It makes for a pretty talking point around the office water cooler, but what are the key levers manipulating this narrative? 

Here’s what I know from being on the ground all day, every single day…

• Interstate migration into Brisbane has slowed slightly from 1500 to 1000 per week, but one in three buyer enquiry calls we field are coming from, you guessed it, Melbourne. 
• Buyers arriving here from down south have a preconceived idea that better buying opportunities exist in Brisbane, failing to account for the good old supply versus demand equation which has fast closed the gap between our two property markets. 
• Melbourne buyers are our best performers, and the most spirited, when it comes to auctions. Most were born raising a paddle on a Saturday so they know how to play the game and it shows when it comes to who’s left smiling when the gavel drops. 

While we continue to see a huge volume of expats returning north, bringing Melbourne buyer behaviours with them, we will also experience an ongoing rise in Brisbane’s median dwelling value. This means greater competition, and better outcomes for our sellers. 

I hope you enjoyed the read.

Matt Lancashire