Brisbane, Qld bargains: Cheapest suburbs to buy a house or unit

It is possible to buy a house in Brisbane at 2006 prices – and half that in the Queensland regions – with 40 suburbs showing affordability still reigns supreme. SEE FULL LIST

Brisbane’s cheapest inner ring place to buy a house is the part residential-part commercial suburb of Hemmant.

It is possible to buy a house in Brisbane at 2006 prices – and half that in the Queensland regions – with PropTrack data naming 40 suburbs where affordability still reigns supreme. Latest analysis of the cheapest suburbs in Greater Brisbane and the Queensland regions found $330,000 was the lowest median house price across all suburbs in the capital region – which is about $13,000 less than the Brisbane’s median was 17 years ago.

PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan said such pockets of affordability would see Queensland and Brisbane continue to be a magnet for years to come for property investors and migrants, whether interstate or international.

“These lists show there are still cheap options across the city and the region,” he said.

“A big trend, particularly after very strong price growth over the past three years, has been that formerly less appealing suburbs have grown in appeal, partly because people are looking at them with new eyes. There are a lot of undiscovered gems that have been overlooked, but now, due to price pressures, people are starting to see their merits.”

The PropTrack analysis split Greater Brisbane’s almost one million dwellings into three rings – inner, within 10km of the CBD, had Hemmant as the cheapest for houses ($800,000); middle, 10 to 24km, was Goodna ($465,000); and outer, 24km plus, was Russell Island ($331,000).

“Some of the cheapest suburbs in Sydney in the middle ring are a million dollars,” Mr Ryan said, whereas Brisbane’s entire top 10 cheapest suburbs in the middle ring came in under $583,000 (Browns Plains).

PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan.

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“This is why Brisbane is going to continue to outperform other major capitals because there is a lot of relative value here if you are looking for a suburban house 15 to 20 kilometres from the CBD. It’s commutable and you’re likely to have all the space you want for a growing family. And Brisbane is half the price of Sydney, it’s quite amazing.”

“These are all really positive. Brisbane has really changed over the past decade. It’s become a bigger city, and when you think of Brisbane as a city, you know compared to Melbourne and Sydney, it’s very cheap.”

The figures did show how big an impact the pandemic price surge has had in Brisbane, with the cheapest inner ring median of $800,000 (Hemmant) more expensive than the most affordable in Melbourne in the same range (Braybrook $782,000).

Where Brisbane’s affordability really comes to the fore is across the middle to outer ring suburbs where prices are not just lower than Melbourne but dramatically cheaper than Sydney.

In Brisbane’s outer ring, there’s a $119,000 price difference within the 10 cheapest suburbs, with the highest median house price on the list being $450,000 at Rosewood. Those in between include popular Brisbane Valley Rail Trail locations Toogoolawah ($348,000), Laidley ($380,000), Esk ($400,000) and Lowood $410,000, as well as Macleay Island ($400,000), Leichhardt ($407,000), North Booval ($420,000) and One Mile ($421,000).

Russell Island has Greater Brisbane’s cheapest house price median at $331,000. Picture: Redland City Council

Mortgage broker Justin Picker of Picker Financial, 30, said it was a “no-brainer” to be snap up properties across Brisbane’s cheaper outer suburbs.

“We specialise in helping people buy their first home and then obviously grow their property portfolios and build wealth through property. In Queensland because of affordability compared to Melbourne, the numbers stack up.”

He said many of his interstate clients were still keen to capitalise on Queensland’s affordability, including couples who’ve sold the family home in Sydney wanting to replace it with multiple properties in Greater Brisbane or South East Queensland.

“You can still buy townhouses for $200,000 30 minutes from the Brisbane CBD, compared to paying close to a million dollars in Sydney,” he said.

“The more properties you can secure now, before the Olympic Games come, you could certainly expect there’d be some growth and value there.”

The top 10 cheapest house price medians in the middle ring go from as low as $465,000 in Goodna to $583,000 in Browns Plains. In between are half a million dollar areas on the cusp of gentrification including Woodridge $470,000, Logan Central $479,000, Kingston $480,000, Redbank $510,000, Collingwood Park $520,000, Slacks Creek $537,000, Marsden $560,000 and Inala $560,000.

House hunters looking further afield in regional Queensland have even cheaper prospects, with the entire top 10 most affordable for houses priced under $220,000.

House medians were as low as $143,000 in Tara with the cheapest suburb for units in South Gladstone at just $170,000.

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Originally published as Brisbane, Qld bargains: Cheapest suburbs to buy a house or unit