Google analytics aids the search for Brisbane’s market-defying suburbs
It’s no secret that Australia’s housing market has been bogged down by a cooling period.
Rising interest rates and inflationary pressures have, amongst other factors, driven the market down from the peaks that were seen during the past two years. This is especially true in Brisbane, where, after recording its first price fall (0.8 per cent) in two years during July, prices fell a further 1.8 per cent in August, and 2.5 per cent in the quarter, according to CoreLogic’s September Home Value Index (HVI).
Despite this, new research from Locate Buyers Agency has used Google search volume data to illuminate the Brisbane suburbs defying the market’s cooling, having recorded an increase in buyer demand since the Reserve Bank of Australia’s first cash rate increase in May.
The suburbs leading the charge in terms of increased demand in the Queensland capital were Chelmer, Newmarket, and Holland Park West, all of which saw the number of searches they were involved in nearly double from May to July — the latest data available for this metric — while the most searched suburbs were Wynnum (1,300 searches), Seven Hills (1,600) with Mansfield and Algester both boasting 880 searches apiece.
In addition to Chelmer, Newmarket, which experienced an 89 per cent increase in search volume, and Holland Park West, which registered an 86 per cent jump, East Brisbane also saw a 56 per cent search volume rise, while Auchenflower rounded out the top five with a 53 per cent boost during the three-month period between May and July.
Featuring in the rest of the top 10 are Stafford (52 per cent), Holland Park (51 per cent), Wynuum (30 per cent), with Chuwar, Newstead and Taringa tied for ninth place with a 24 per cent increase.
The top 10 was rounded off by 12 suburbs that all recorded a 23 per cent rise in their three-month Google search volume, including Seven Hills, Parkinson, and Ashgrove.
Demand increases in certain suburbs are driven largely by multiple factors, including affordability, scarcity — supported by the incredibly low vacancy rates in Brisbane — and infrastructure developments among other motivators.
Google’s latest analytical data could spell positive signs for the Sunshine State’s capital, which has experienced a slow start to the traditional spring selling season alongside the rest of the nation’s capitals.
Last week saw Brisbane record a 42.4 per cent increase in auction activity from the previous week, with 126 homes going under the hammer across the week, with the city’s clearance rate of 42.4 per cent matching its volume increase.