$1 billion in home sales
Volume ‘down’ on busier times
TOOWOOMBA churned through more than $1 billion in home sales in the 12 months to August, according to new figures released by property analytics company CoreLogic.
The new data shows 2583 homes were sold during the period, at a median price of $359,835, with transactions totalling $1.091 billion.
Figures also show a 0.9% improvement in median sales price over the 12 months to September, and a 13.8% growth in median value over the five years to September.
But while they’re impressive figures, the volume of homes sold was down on busier years, Real Estate Institute of Queensland zone chair for Toowoomba and Darling Downs David Snow said.
He said Toowoomba was nearing about 40,000 dwellings and that in busier years, the area had seen a turnover of nearly 10%, or 4000 properties.
“So in real terms we could say the number of transactions is lower, and there’s a number of reasons for that,” Mr Snow said.
Mr Snow said people staying in the current home and “upgrading their properties” was one reason, and that companies were transferring fewer people on a regular basis.
He also said the impact of the Banking Royal Commission on lending practices meant the process of borrowing money had become more difficult in recent months.
“Where six months ago people might have been told they can borrow a certain amount of money, that’s gone out the window and people are now having to go back to their financiers,” he said.
“Those financiers are asking for every dollar the potential buyers have and how it’s being spent.”
Looking to the future, Mr Snow suggested that with a forthcoming Federal election in the first half of 2019, “a typical response from the market place is a holding pattern”.
“Even though the sun still rises in the east the next day, there is a genuine level of fluidity in the area of politics and a greater uncertainty as we face a Federal election in the first half of next year,” he said.
“And I think that’s going to impact on the level of activity and people’s spending habits in the market place. That would be one of the greatest factors from that point of view.”