Investors ask: Which cities will perform in 2015?
Q. If Sydney has already 'done its dash' as an investment hotspot, which cities are primed to take its place next year? Will there be any star performers or unexpected market movers?
A.Well in 2015, I think we’ll start to see a few cities over-perform compared to their previous growth. So we’ve got Brisbane as the first candidate here where transaction volumes are already picking up quite substantially, rental yields are much healthier than what you’ll find in Melbourne and Sydney, and there isn’t as much of an affordability barrier around the marketplace – in fact the median house price in Brisbane is about 50 per cent lower than what it is in Sydney now.
I think the other market to watch from a capital city perspective will be Hobart. We are seeing Australia’s most affordable capital city now showing some upwards momentum after a pretty solid correction in values.
Adelaide’s outlook is a bit more patchy and rough. I think we’ll see consistent growth in that marketplace, but it probably won’t be as strong as most other cities. It will likely be held back by the downturn in the manufacturing sector.
Regionally speaking, I think lifestyle markets are starting to bounce back a bit now. You’ve got to be a bit wary of mining and resources-driven areas until we start to see a turnaround in commodity prices.
Tim Lawless, head of research, RP Data