The most popular suburbs for property transactions over the past year revealed

The most popular suburbs for property deals have been revealed, with the Domain House Price Report showing a trend to sea-change or tree-change hotspots or outer suburbs offering more space.

At the same time, inner-city unit markets have been busy, with first-home buyers taking the opportunity to purchase from investors who need the cash while the pandemic hits the economy.

Corelogic recently estimated that there were almost 598,000 house and unit sales across Australia over the year ending August 2021; the highest number of annual sales since 2004 and a 42% lift on the annual number of sales over the previous 12-month period.

As always, it's important to look deeper into the stats of popular suburbs because clearly large suburbs are likely to have a high volume of property transactions.

And just to make things clear... Even though there is a large number of transactions in these suburbs doesn't mean they're "investment-grade" suburbs or a good place to invest!

However, the list still highlights the COVID-induced lifestyle shifts that have prompted buyers to take advantage of low-interest rates and search for bigger homes further from the city where they can work remotely.

There is no doubt there's been a shift to south-east Queensland, with many buyers keen to move from the southern states for a permanent change to a warmer climate and pleasant lifestyle, while others are buying a property to spend their holidays while they can't travel overseas

Domain reported that the Surfers Paradise unit market had the largest volume of property transactions in the year to June, at 2325.

There was also a strong turnover of units in nearby Southport (at 984) and Broadbeach (at 859).

Domain also reported that in the Melbourne CBD unit market, there were 1210 transactions, although the median price fell 1.4 per cent over the year to $542,500.

With international borders having been closed, international students and Airbnb guests are somewhat thin on the ground and vacancies have been high prompting some investors to sell their inner-city apartments allowing first-home buyers to jump in and take advantage of the offer of no stamp duty for purchases under $600,000.

I can understand why they're doing this, however, I think they will be disappointed down the track when they find very little or no capital growth in their inner-city apartment over the next few years.

About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.