‘Nothing for under $1m’: French countryside on par with Brisbane house prices
In the French countryside, spectacular chateaus, manors, and stylish apartments are selling for the same price as the standard two-storey home in the Brisbane suburbs.
Lifestyle
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The Paris Olympics have left Aussie property hunters dreaming of a French escape – and it may be a cheaper option than buying a home in Queensland.
In the French countryside, spectacular chateaus, manors, and stylish apartments are selling for the same price as the standard two-storey home in the Brisbane suburbs.
In Fontainebleau, a 46-minute train drive from Paris’ city centre, you can nab a luxurious five-bedroom castle.
The stunning property, which overlooks a lake, costs the equivalent of $1.6m – the median price for a home in trendy Newstead.
Those who prefer something a little closer to the city can also snap up a relative bargain.
We found a one-bedroom apartment, within strolling distance of the Seine, for just under $1m.
For that same amount, Brisbane buyers can grab a home in Sunnybank Hills where the median price spiked from $658,000 in 2019 to $1.8m in 2024.
Ray White Sunnybank Hills principal Jonathan Law said Brisbane residents are having to look further out of the CBD to find a $1m home.
“From my experience, residents are having to look 25 to 30 minutes out of the Brisbane city to find homes with a price range of $1m,” he said.
“But honestly it is pretty impossible to find something for $1m close to the city. I have seen people have to head out to Calamvale or Algester.”
PropTrack Senior Economist Anne Flaherty agreed, saying Brisbane has been Australia’s best performing property market over the four years post-Covid, with the median price of a home up 70.6 per cent since March 2020.
“Over the past 12 months Brisbane has overtaken both Melbourne and Canberra to become the second most expensive city to purchase a home in, behind only Sydney,” Ms Flaherty said.
“Supporting home prices in Brisbane has been strong population growth, which is outpacing the construction of new homes. In addition to migration from overseas, Queensland is continuing to see more interstate migration than any other Australian state.
“Across Queensland, there was a 40 per cent shortfall in the number of home completions required to accommodate population growth in 2023, exacerbating the under supply of housing.
“With demand for housing outpacing new supply this is increasing competition in the property market and placing upward pressure on prices.”
If you are looking for a more extravagant French escape, there are plenty of other options around.
For about $4.1m, roughly the same price as the median Teneriffe home, you can buy your very own 15-bedroom, five-bathroom Parisian chateau, which also has two of its very own tennis courts.
An hour train ride from Paris – another prestigious property awaits.
Nestled in the town of Faremoutiers, this $3.3m castle is the same price as a family home in Hamilton or Hawthorne.
It features 11 bedrooms, a tennis court, a fireplace and a caretaker house.
An hour and a half out of Paris, in the north-central town of Marolles-Sur-Seine, other properties also described as castles are selling for under $2m.
Despite the options on offer, a spokesperson for French real estate agency Chateaux De Luxe said they hadn’t been bombarded with offers from Aussies during the Olympics.
“Summer is always a hot season regardless of the Olympics,” they said.
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