Olympics buzz around Brisbane property could fade, says network

After Brisbane secured the 2032 Olympics last year, mortgage brokers tipped they had already seen a rise in inquiries around the local market, with a jump in activity across residential and commercial lending expected to continue.

Pete Wargent, co-founder of real estate agent network BuyersBuyers, believes the Olympics will deliver a boost to the economy and housing market, but property investors will need to consider the long-term.

“Everyone talks about Sydney’s boom when house prices all but doubled over half a decade up to 2001, for example, and the Olympics may have played a part in that story, with prices booming in the lead up to the event,” Mr Wargent said.

“What’s not mentioned so often is that after the Sydney cycle peaked – when interest rates were hiked twice in a double tap on the braked in late 2003 – the Sydney market then underperformed all of the other capital cities for six or seven years.”

He also pointed to London, where prices had risen by 37 per cent from 2009 to 2014, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

“But then since 2017, the London market has been a relative underperformer as the pandemic saw a general shift in demand to the regions of the country,” Mr Wargent said.

Doron Peleg, chief executive and co-founder of BuyersBuyers added that as Sydney and Melbourne’s markets had outperformed, South-East Queensland had become considerably more affordable.

Research from REA Group had shown Queensland recorded the highest net interstate migrants of any state during the first 12 months of COVID-19, from March 2020.

“South-east Queensland has always enjoyed strong internal migration and is considered to be a highly preferred lifestyle area in coastal Australia,” Mr Peleg said.

“And the onset of the pandemic and the advance of working from home and flexible working arrangements have accelerated these trends.”

As a result, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, with coastal lifestyle and access to Brisbane, have experienced strong demand, he added, which should only increase alongside planned infrastructure improvements.

Another factor is improved employment conditions and labour market.

But Mr Wargen stated property investors hoping to benefit from the Olympics boom would need to get “granular” and consider suburbs, streets, property types and other factors such as flood risk.

Recommended inner-city suburbs included Woolloongabba, Dutton Park, Albion and Hamilton. Other areas Mr Wargent listed off included Yeronga and Yeerongpilly.

“The Olympics coming to Brisbane is uplifting news, no doubt. It will put the city on the international map, and the associated investment in infrastructure will be very welcome,” he said.

“But remember this is only one factor of many impacting the housing market, and if your goal is specifically to benefit from the Olympics, then you’ll need to conduct more granular research.”