According to data released by digital property settlement platform PEXA, Queensland’s property market led the way with more than 200,000 properties changing hands in the past 12 months.

More than $400 billion worth of property changed hands during the past financial year.

Queensland recorded a 37 per cent lift in settlements year-on-year, worth more than $106 billion and fuelled by low interest rates, government stimulus and increased buyer demand.

“The Sunshine State has had an incredible year in property, with greater Brisbane jumping more than 50 per cent on last year’s figures, and the rest of Queensland delivering significant year-on-year gains,” PEXA senior research manager Mike Gill said.

“Most notably, we have seen a trend across the east coast of greater activity in our regional areas, with sale settlements [outside Brisbane] up 23 per cent year-on-year.”

The highest number of sales in Queensland were in Surfers Paradise, Southport and Maroochydore.

Settlements in New South Wales were up 26 per cent with Port Macquarie, Orange and Dubbo the top centre for the greatest number of property settlements.

The state recorded 218,000 settlements, worth more than $186 billion, with the residential sector accounting for more than 84 per cent of all sale settlements. Commercial sales were up more than 30 per cent year-on-year.

Victoria recorded four months of negative growth in the first half of the year, coinciding with the second lockdown, although the state recovered quickly after restrictions eased.

Despite softer gains, Victoria experienced an 11 per cent year-on year increase in settlements.

Commercial sales helped the locked-down state, making up a third of settlements, which was up 27 per cent on the previous financial year.

A total of $127 billion worth of properties settled in Victoria—198,000 properties—to be up 8 per cent year-on-year.

Four in five capital city settlements procured were funded with a new loan, compared to just three in five for regional settlements, as buyers sought out lower priced properties, flexible working arrangements and a change in lifestyle.

“There also appeared to be greater consumer preference towards major banks for new loans in New South Wales and Victoria due to highly competitive rates, particularly for fixed rate loans, and special offers, such as cash back incentives,” Gill said.

“Queensland consumers bucked this trend, with the gap narrowing in favour of the non-major lenders within the state from January, 2021.”

Throughout the depths of the pandemic the housing industry relied heavily on the federal government's $25,000 HomeBuilder subsidy program to boost demand for new housing inquiries.

The program officially ended in March, although the deadline to begin construction runs for an additional 12 months.

By TED TABET