Parts of Queensland 'too hot' for best buys
After purchasing over 120 properties in one Queensland area, an investor and buyer’s agent has told us that he’s moving on to other locations as the area is becoming too hot.
Speaking to Smart Property Investment, wHeregroup buyer’s agent Todd Hunter explained that prices are about to move in Queensland’s Ipswich and he is moving on to other areas due to these conditions.
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“Prices haven’t moved yet but properties are selling within days,” Mr Hunter explained. The vendor discounting appears to be closing up on the properties, with final selling prices coming ever closer to the listing. This has been affecting his purchasing strategy of using weak market conditions to negotiate hard and to allow special conditions in the final contract.
He expects the price growth will happen “in July or August when the rail line opens up and spring comes along,” however the market is currently too hot, in terms of activity, to get the deals most investors are after.
Part of identifying the shift, he said, is the new reactions of real estate agents to the conditions put on contracts and to ‘low-ball’ offers. “They’re thinking it’s too hard to deal with me and no real estate agent wants to care now the market has changed,” he said.
Having bought up to 130 properties, spanning in price from $211,000 to $326,000 for himself and clients in the Ipswich area, he explained that his prediction is that the properties valued in the early-$300,000 range are likely to go to $400,000.
Those in the early $200,000 range will reach high $200,000, while those bought for the high $200,000 range will likely be seen in the high $300,000 mark. However, he warned that current price statistics may be misleading, with a number of land blocks currently dragging down the median.
While good growth is expected in this short-term period, he noted that most of his clients will hold the property for at least five years to get the most growth. The settlement on his latest purchase takes place at the end of this week.
