Gracemere, near Rockhampton, has emerged as Queensland’s top growth suburb – recording the biggest leap in the number of house sales over the last 12 months.

According to new research released by PRDnationwide, 96 houses sold in Gracemere in the six months leading up to June 2011 – up 63 per cent compared to the same period a year before.

Prices also rose by a modest 3 per cent during the same period.

The largest drop in house sales was recorded by The Gap, on Brisbane’s west – down 57 per cent.

The twenty suburbs which had the strongest increase and strongest decrease in house sales activity for the 12 months leading up to June 2011 are identified by the Queensland Sales Overview.

Aaron Maskrey, PRDnationwide research director, said 17 of the top 20 suburbs to have recorded the largest reduction in activity occurred in South East Queensland.

“The largest softenings throughout the first half of 2011 were achieved in The Gap, Buderim and Forest Lake,” he said.

“Notably, only three suburbs in the top 20 to experience declining sales, have recorded a median sale price above $500,000.”

“Despite interest rates remaining on hold since November 2010, it appears that confidence was sapped in the South East Queensland property market, as the majority of the top 20 suburbs to have experienced the largest decline in activity are located within this region.

Source: The Advisor

The big four commercial banks in Australia are estimated to receive an additional A$5.6 million in profit for each day where they delay the passing on of interest rate cuts to borrowers, according to an industry estimate.

Some argue that this A$5 million per day gain could be passed on to retailers that were hurting significantly due to low spending over the Christmas period.

ANZ Bank passed its rate cut on first, trimming its borrowing rates by the full 25 basis points at 12:30pm on the Thursday after the Tuesday 6th December announcement. NAB did likewise later that afternoon.

A number of factors caused this delay, with the main rationale cited being the time taken to consider the cost of sourcing funds from overseas.

Source: SMH