Media release – date ALBANY CREEK PROPERTY MARKET RECOVERY SET TO STRENGTHEN IN 2012 Des McKeever from First National Real Estate Albany Creek says the local property market is showing lots of potential for 2012, with signs already that a slow recovery is underway. “In the last six months, the market has been falling, but this is expected to steady as 2012 begins and the effects of the floods and cyclones wear off, and interest rates reduce,” Mr McKeever said in the First National 2012 Property Market Outlook released this week. The key challenge facing the region’s property market in 2012 is seen by Mr McKeever as consumer confidence, where politicians need to gain a better understanding of how to life public confidence. “As part of the global economy, Australia and our region is tied to what happens with the rest of the world, despite our prosperity as a nation in general,” Mr McKeever said. According to the Outlook, residential property prices in Albany Creek are expected to flatten in 2012 across all sectors of houses, apartment/strata and land. “There is potential for house prices to lift by up to 1 per cent, with the state government doubling the stamp duty and a lack of appropriate incentives for second home buyers,” Mr McKeever said. The rental market should see vacancy rates are expected to trend downwards in 2012, tightening by up to 1 per cent, although there is little room for movement at all given that people are not currently buying properties and are opting to rent which means rental properties are snapped up quickly. It is expected weekly rent prices will remain flat, as there is little room for people to take on additional expenses. Mr McKeever expects any increases in investor activity to be below 1 per cent due to rising stamp duty costs deterring activity. “But it is Upgraders who I expect to represent the strongest growth in activity in the Albany Creek region due to the belief that the market has bottomed and so hope to grab a bargain,” Mr McKeever said. Mr McKeever believes the increases to stamp duty have stalled the recovery to some degree and the lack of bank funds and incentives for first home buyers will continue to prove a barrier for this segment of the market in 2012. However, he expects interest rates to decrease by around 1 per cent which he says will have a favourable impact on the property market, serving to stimulate activity, strengthen consumer confidence and make it easier for first home buyers and investors to secure a property.
The introduction of the carbon tax is also expected to impact on the property market, reducing consumer confidence further. -
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Issued by: First National Real Estate. For further information or to receive a copy of the 2012 Property Market Outlook, Des McKeever, Principal from First National Real Estate Albany Creek, on 07 3264 2188.