Saturday 18 May 2013. The Queensland residential property market has posted positive results for the year ending March, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).

The REIQ March quarter median house price report , released today, found the vast majority of local government areas across the State recorded encouraging yearly results.

REIQ CEO Anton Kardash said the results were another sign the Queensland’s market was improving in a sustainable way.

“As we forecast last year, our property market continues to record healthier results with the positive yearly figures also highlighting that residential sales have turned a corner,” he said.

The REIQ March quarter results found 10 of the 12 major regions across Queensland posted a steady or better median house price result over the year.

According to the REIQ, it is owner-occupiers who are leading the way with activity levels up compared to last year. The estimated numbers of investors in the market also continues to be steady with low vacancy rates likely to encourage more investment activity in the months ahead.

“Unfortunately, first home buyers continue to lag well below historical averages and they are about 50 per cent fewer than the same period last year,” Mr Kardash said.

“First-time buyers usually average about 18 per cent of the market but are currently sitting around the 10 per cent mark due to the removal of the First Home Owners Grant in mid-October last year.

“The importance of first home buyers to the overall health of the property market cannot be under- estimated so we hope to again see some assistance for first-time buyers of established property in this year’s State Budget.”

Over the March quarter, the Brisbane median house price decreased 1 per cent to $515,000 – a result that can be classed as steady given the varying nature of median prices. Over the year ending March its median house price increased 1 per cent.

The top performing of all major regions for the March quarter, however, was Rockhampton which recorded a median house price increase of 7.8 per cent to $339,500.

“Rockhampton’s good result is partly due to its location near a number of mining precincts,” Mr Kardash said.

“It is also likely to be benefitting from its neighbour Gladstone’s market cooling down somewhat after several quarters of very strong results due to the resources boom.”

Another solid performer was Mackay, which recorded median house price growth of 3.2 per cent to $428,250 over the quarter.

The Gold Coast posted its second consecutive quarter of positive growth with its median house price increasing 2.2 per cent to $475,000 over the March quarter.

At the other end of the state, Cairns also performed well with its median price increasing 2.4 per cent to $358,500 over the same period.

“This is great news for two of our major tourism regions after a prolonged period of relatively poor market conditions until last year,” Mr Kardash said.

The Sunshine Coast also recorded a positive result, with its median price up 1.2 per cent to $440,000 over the March quarter.