The International Olympic Committee announced Brisbane and SEQ was its preferred host for the Olympic games in 2032.
As much as south-east Queensland’s Olympic bid is a shot at sustainability, after past hosts paid the price, the region just doesn’t have the transport infrastructure to support it. Not yet, anyway.
That has always been the key to this bid, that the Olympics could be delivered without great expense provided governments chipped in to upgrade roads, public transport and facilities. The infrastructure is needed anyway, so shouldn’t count towards the cost of the games, and becomes the legacy of the games – or so the argument goes.
The proponents of the bid have talked up the prospect of faster train services to the Gold and Sunshine coasts, and even Toowoomba, to better connect the region and the thousands of sporting types and tourists who will want to come here in 2032.
Many of the facilities are already in place, so will only need small improvements being made.
Successfully gaining the Olympic Games, will mean that governments at all levels will need to bring forward some of these major infrastructure improvements. We all know what it is like heading to the Sunshine Coast on the weekend, so any improvement here will be appreciated.
One thing that major infrastructure projects bring is lots of new jobs, and new jobs is a positive for property prices.
New jobs, new businesses, more money being spent locally, more demand for housing. All positive for accelerating property growth.
The Current Property Boom
If not for the backdrop of a global pandemic, you could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu as the property market shows all the signs of launching into yet another boom.
Auction clearance rates are at near-record highs, bankers are rubbing their hands together as lending takes off and many economists are predicting double-digit percentage gains in house prices over the next two years.
Latest quarterly figures from CoreLogic, when annualised, imply the national property market is growing at 11.2 per cent a year.
However, there are some big differences between the latest price upswing and previous booms in Australian bricks and mortar.
A glaring distinction is the market is overwhelmingly being driven by owner-occupier homebuyers, rather than investors, who turbo-charged the property surge of the past decade.
CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless says at the peak in 2015, property investors made up about 46 per cent of all new mortgage lending. Today, investors account for just 23 per cent.
The surge is also a response to rock-bottom mortgage interest rates; when combined with a low supply of homes for sale, the result is strong price growth.
There is also a self-fulfilling dynamic at play in which people tend to jump into the market when they see prices going up, thereby drawing in more buyers. The phenomenon, known as “fear of missing out,” or FOMO, could further exacerbate price growth.
A Local Example
A good example of how a new infrastructure project can impact on a location.
The University of the Sunshine Coast Moreton Bay campus opened in February 2020 and created high demand on housing within the region.
Suburbs such as Petrie, Lawnton and Kallangur being the closest to the campus have seen strong price increases. An increasing demand for rental accommodation for university students has pushed up rents and added to property price rises. .
The campus is only the beginning stage in a planned 10.5-hectare university precinct that will form the heart of The Mill at Moreton Bay. It is expected by 2030 that the USC Moreton Bay campus will be equal in size to its flagship campus on the Sunshine Coast.
So an increase in demand buy renters and also investors has contributed to the strong property price rises here. That is likely to continue as the full benefits of the University growth continue over the next few years.
So a successful bid for the Olympic games will mean that Brisbane will see a decade or more of large infrastructure projects and enjoy the benefits of increased employment, increased money in the local community, and increased demand for property.
Let the good time roll on.
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Hicks Real Estate Team
Hicks Real Estate is a Brisbane based, full-service real estate agency supporting buyers and sell as well as renters and property investors. With almost 20 years experience in the local market, we are the real estate experts you can rely upon.
