PHOTO: First home buyer Lizzie Delaney bought a two-bedroom unit in Toowong for $450,000.(ABC News: Lexy Hamilton-Smith)
Queensland first home buyers are bucking the national trend by snapping up real estate at the fastest rate in 13 years, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) says.
Key points:
- First-home buyer loans are at the highest level since 2008
- Market analyst Terry Ryder says first-home buyers need to lower their expectations for their first property
- Banks have begun applying a higher mandatory interest rate buffer on loan applications
With prices soaring “through the roof” at a 20-year high, savvy young buyers are settling for less just to get their foot in the door.
REIQ chief executive officer Antonia Mercorella said first home buyers were buying around 3,000 homes every month in the Sunshine state.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data said a year ago that figure was down to around 2,000 a month, but sales started to outpace other states early on in the new year.
“Certainly what we are seeing the market doing nationally is pretty extraordinary and so you can understand why there is a lot of talk around affordability, and that first home buyers are being shut out of the market,” Ms Mercorella said.
“But I think when you look at Queensland it is quite a different story and the statistics tell us that actually in Queensland, when we look at first home buyer loans, they are at the highest level we have seen since 2008.
Calculated risks to get a foot in the door
Lizzie Delaney, 27, had her heart set on a small, old Queenslander but realised she had to downsize her expectations as prices soared.
“It was hard but just something I had to do, you have to get your foot in the door at some point, so it is a good start,” she said.
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