Media release – date SPRINGFIELD PROPERTY MARKET RECOVERY SET TO STRENGTHEN IN 2012 Neil Coupland from First National Real Estate Springfield 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 Coupland 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 Coupland as consumer confidence, especially as a result of ongoing issues with the floods of last summer and their subsidence over the past year. “Interest rates will also be a significant factor affecting the property market into 2012, improving affordability and so serving as a stimulus for activity,” Mr Coupland said. According to the Outlook, residential property prices in Springfield are expected to flatten in 2012 across all sectors of houses, apartment/strata and land. Land prices may even trend downwards, decreasing by between 5 and 10 per cent as a result of the building boost ending. The rental market should see vacancy rates trend upwards in 2012, easing by between 5 and 10 per cent, as owners’ moves to increase rents as a result of interest rates and costs of living force tenants to shop for cheaper accommodation. It is expected weekly rent prices will also trend upwards, increasing by between 1 and 5 per cent as owners seek to recoup outgoing cost increases. Mr Coupland expects any increases in investor activity to be between 1 and 5 per cent due to lower interest rates and a volatile share market. “But it is Upgraders who I expect will represent the strongest growth in activity in the Springfield region due to the belief that the market has bottomed and so hope to grab a bargain,” Mr Coupland said. According to Mr Coupland, “the increases to stamp duty have stalled the recovery to some degree and the lack of bank funds for first home buyers will continue to prove a barrier for this segment of the market in 2012,” he said. “However, interest rates are expected to decrease by around 0.5 per cent which is expected to have a favourable impact on the property market, serving to strengthen consumer confidence and making it easier for first home buyers and investors to secure a property. There has been some increases in default mortgages for the Springfield region and this trend may continue for the first half of 2012.”
The economic events in Europe and America will continue to impact on buyer confidence as it has a detrimental effect on banks, causing them to tighten lending conditions further. The introduction of the carbon tax is also expected to impact on the property market, forcing home prices higher. -
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Issued by: First National Real Estate. For further information or to receive a copy of the 2012 Property Market Outlook, Neil Coupland, Principal from First National Real Estate Springfield, on 07 3288 2000.