Rochedale tops state's median house price
Shannon Molloy | February 5, 2009 - 10:56AM
The median price of a house in Rochedale soared to a staggering $1.6 million last year, catapulting the semi-rural suburb to the top of Queensland's rich list.
Data released by Australian Property Monitors (APM) this week found the former farming shire knocked Surfers Paradise and Brisbane's ritzy riverside suburb of Hamilton out of prime position.
At least two newspapers were quick to seize on the mammoth 72 per cent increase in 12 months,
but experts have warned the median price is not always a measure of true value.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland managing director Dan Molloy said Rochedale's median was calculated from a small number of sales.
The suburb recorded just 13 sales during 2008, according to APM. Mr Molloy said an area needs at least 25 transactions for a reliable median to be calculated.
"Rochedale is predominantly an acreage suburb so if a number of these types of properties are sold to homeowners or developers over a particular period, the median price will increase," he said.
While the area has an abundance of vacant land, it seems little of it is sold. There were just 18 sales in Rochedale during 2007 - a busy period for the south-east's property market.
The Gold Coast has long been home to some of the state's highest median prices and, despite recent media attention suggesting otherwise, little has changed.
Mermaid Beach's median increased by 9 per cent to $1.3 million last year, based on 55 home sales. At Surfers Paradise, there was a modest 2 per cent jump to $1.27 million.
The median in Hamilton, in Brisbane's inner-north, rose 4.9 per cent to $1.1 million, while neighbouring Ascot suffered a 7 per cent slump to $924,000.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/new...ian-house-price/2009/02/05/1233423369334.html
