‘Can’t just have a dormitory city’: Top 20 suburbs for new homes

Prospective buyers have less chance of finding affordable new builds in Brisbane than they do in both Sydney and Melbourne, shock new research reveals. See which suburbs to search.

Prospective buyers have less chance of finding affordable new builds in Brisbane than they do in Sydney and Melbourne, shock new research reveals.

The devastating findings by PRD research show there are only nine affordable suburbs among Brisbane’s top 20 areas for ready-to-sell unit stock, compared to 12 in Melbourne and 14 in Sydney.

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The majority of new homes going into Brisbane are units this year – which experts believe will be the new reality for capital city homebuyers. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

The data, which looks at new ready-to-sell housing stock available within a 20km radius of major CBDs, found Brisbane has more than 6800 new homes set for construction this year but almost all of them (6525) are units – except for 37 houses in Yeronga and 289 townhouses across 12 suburbs.

But the issue isn’t just confined to the state’s capital. PRD found only five suburbs with affordable ready-to-sell properties on the Gold Coast, while there were only two suburbs in Cairns and none in Townsville.

The affordability was based on whether prices were below the area’s median house or unit price.

Brisbane’s top suburb for ready-to-sell housing this year was Fortitude Valley where 958 homes are planned, followed by Toowong 832, Kangaroo Point 756, Indooroopilly 487, South Brisbane 474, Woolloongabba 417 and Teneriffe 403.

PRD chief economist Dr Asti Mardiasmo said “what we found is if you do want to go to areas that have the most ready-to-sell stock planned, you have to be prepared to pay a premium.”

She said Brisbane was fast becoming a place where the only affordable homes would be units – not houses – with only two suburbs with ready-to-sell stock priced below the capital’s median level.

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Jon Raven, the mayor of Queensland’s fastest growing city – Logan, has 7,000 dwellings in the development pipeline and says it’s important to not just provide the “classic Australian dream of the quarter acre block” but also ensure “people who want a more affordable option get to have it near our already built-up areas around public transport”.

“During a housing crisis, the temptation is just to build houses as far as the eye can see, but houses require jobs, and places you can go shopping and have a high quality of life. You can’t just have a dormitory city. We know that doesn’t work any more, people don’t want to drive 30 minutes to a restaurant, they want 10 minutes. So we want to make sure that we’re actually providing quality of life.”

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