Eureka Report – Capital Cities back on track by Monique Sasson Wakelin May 16 2012
There is a fair degree of scepticism or disbelief around the proposition that the property market will improve this year. I suppose this doubt is reasonable in the face of 18 months of softer prices and over-blown media rhetoric that a crash is upon us.
But after taking soundings from Perth, Brisbane and Sydney – and layering my own experience in Melbourne – I’m confident that slowly, tentatively, capital city property markets across Australia are stirring……
Meighan Hetherington, Director at Property Pursuit, says activity is up in Brisbane and demand is strong. “In the last 3 weeks, seven out of nine properties we’ve been interested in have had multiple prospective buyers. One property in Stafford Heights saw eight offers.”
Hetherington has noticed a mood change in Brisbane. “The opinion that we’re in a buyer’s market is no longer true – the market is now fairly balanced. People who are active in the market have come to realise that you can’t just grab a bargain anymore.”……
I would counsel investors who are buying for the long term – as they must with property – that now is probably as good a time as ever to buy, given that we are either close to the bottom of the market or even already on the way up. But the more compelling reason to go early is choice – you’re far better to pick up a high-quality asset now when demand is relatively low, than when the market takes off. And ultimately, asset selection is the number one determinant of investment success.
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