Brisbane overtakes Melbourne. The numbers don’t lie…

Where did those Christmas holidays go? I spent mine with my favourite people, recharging the battery for a year even greater than 2023. Now that’s an ambitious call, considering last year was our strongest performance yet as we sold and settled $296M in property across 71 transactions. 

Here’s a quote of mine taken from the last time I wrote to you, which was on Friday, December 15.

“Clearly, Brisbane’s high-end market will continue to shine in 2024 as a steady stream of southerners flows across the border.” 

Dig out your best polarised sunnies because Brissie’s already shining so brightly, the glare is all but blinding.

This time last week, “Brisbane overtakes Melbourne” was flashed up in lights across nationwide mastheads. The headlines, in their various forms, all referred to Brisbane’s median home value eclipsing that of Melbourne’s for the first time in around 14 years. The CoreLogic report showed Brisbane’s median value in December was $787,217 while Melbourne’s was $780,457. And here’s the kicker – values in Brisbane rose 50.2 per cent since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, while Melbourne values were only 11 per cent higher.

CoreLogic Head of Research Eliza Owen said the city’s appeal amid an increase in remote work helped fuel strong population growth, increasing housing demand, driving down supply and making it a seller’s market.

“The normalisation of remote work for many professionals made interstate migration to Queensland more feasible, while Melbourne’s extended lockdowns from March 2020 through to October 2021 may have prompted people to leave the city,” Owen said.

And head to Brisbane, where the sun generally shines, neighbours still know each other’s names, and any sporting code outside of AFL is also considered religion. 

So, welcome to 2024. Welcome to Brisbane (if you’ve just arrived). And here’s to a wonderful year of success, love and laughter.

I hope you enjoy the read.

Matt Lancashire