Priced out? Brisbane’s new ‘it' suburbs revealed

Brisbane’s newest bridesmaid suburbs have been revealed, and buyers could save more than $600,000 just by shifting their focus 1.7km down the road.

Brisbane’s newest bridesmaid suburbs have been revealed, and buyers could save more than $600,000 just by shifting their focus 1.7km down the road.

Exclusive analysis by Place Advisory has revealed the city’s emerging growth stars, with five suburbs coming out of the shadows of their higher priced neighbours.

Buyers priced out of Grange on Brisbane’s northside could save $612,500 by shifting their search focus to Stafford, which is just a short drive over picturesque Kedron Brook.

10 Sellheim Street, Grange, sits on a 810sq m block and recently sold for $1.94m

To put those savings into perspective, that’s roughly the equivalent to the median house price in places like Yungaburra in Cairns, Meringandan West in Toowoomba and Hillcrest in the Logan-Beaudesert region.

Median house values in Grange have skyrocketed by 20.4 per cent to $1.505 million, up from $1,250,500 just two years ago.

But Stafford house values have increased by just 5 per cent over that same period, coming in at a relatively affordable $892,500.

On a 809sq m block, 39 Castling Street, Stafford, sold for $1.1 million

But competition is fierce, with 2409 buyers considered “seriously interested” in each house listing in the gentrifying suburb, according to realestate.com.au.

LJ Hooker Stafford agent Adam Stefan said it was “crazy” how much values dropped just by crossing over Kedron Brook.

“It can be a bit harder to knock down some of the heritage-style homes in Grange but in Stafford, it is mostly post-war so we are getting a lot of buyers moving across and building new homes,” he said.

“We have a client at the moment who is selling in Grange and building new in Stafford.”

Mr Stefan said Stafford had “changed massively” during his 14 years as an agent in the suburb, adding that the main shopping centre had been refurbished, new cafes and restaurants were moving in and breweries were popping up in the industrial area.

“It is coming into its own,” he said.

“We are seeing a mix of families wanting bigger and newer homes, and families moving in from places like Bridgeman Downs so they are closer to schools like Padua.”

Elsewhere, buyers looking at Runcorn instead of Eight Mile Plains could save $450,000 by house hunting just 4.2km away.

Median house prices are $850,000 in Runcorn compared to $1.25 million in Eight Mile Plains, where house values have soared 45.9 per cent in two years compared to 27 per cent in Runcorn.

3 Coomera Ct, Runcorn, has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and space for four cars and sits on a 577sq m block. It recently sold for $850,000. A similar house on a 552sq m block in Eight Mile Plains sold for $1.35 million

Buyers priced out of Gumdale, which has a median house price of $1.59 million, should meander 1.6km down the road to Wakerley, where they could save $411,500 based on a median sales price of $1,178,500.

Rounding out the top five bridesmaid suburbs to watch in 2024 were Cannon Hill and Graceville.

7 Ribblesdale Place, Gumdale, has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and sits on a 600sq m block. It sold for $1.43m. A similar house but with five bedrooms and on a 700sq m block in Wakerley sold for $1.255m in September

Homehunters could save $319,000 by looking at Cannon Hill ($1.131m) as opposed to Seven Hills ($1.45m), just 3.5km away.

And buyers could save $252,500 leftover to splash out on renovations by purchasing in Graceville ($1.27m) instead of Chelmer ($1,522,500).

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Russell & Kathryn Stafford and Riley the dog are selling their 22 Crawford Rd, Chelmer, home for offers over $1.585m. Photo Steve Pohlner

Place Graceville agent Karen Simons said the Chelmer-Graceville-Sherwood pocket was “aspirational” for many buyers.

She said Chelmer had traditionally been seen as the premium suburb, but the surrounding suburbs had benefited from that reputation.

“The people who may have gotten into Chelmer a few years ago are shifting towards places like Graceville due to the higher prices in Chelmer now,” she said.

“But that whole area benefits from location, however there are savings to be made by shifting a suburb or two over.

“We have seen massive price increases in suburbs surrounding Chelmer just because buyers have been priced out.”

170 Strong Avenue, Graceville, has four bedrooms and sits on a 410sq m block. It recently sold for $1.025m.

And buyers wanting to get into one of the new bridesmaid suburbs had better act fast, with three out of five of those identified posting double digit growth since September 2021.

Hotspotting’s Price Predictor Index for Spring, which looks at whether sales are rising, recovering, plateauing, declining or showing consistency across Brisbane, mirrored the findings by Place.

It identified Eight Mile Plains as a declining market while sales were “recovering” in Runcorn.

Sales in the Grange were identified as recovering while Stafford showed consistency.

It comes after the latest PropTrack Home Price Index revealed that Brisbane led the nation in terms of home price growth in October, with values hitting a new record high of $773,000 — almost as high as Melbourne’s at $815,000 median.

Prices in Brisbane are now 7.4 per cent above their level a year ago and 53 per cent higher than they were before the pandemic in March 2020.

“It’s testament to the exceptional outperformance in growth in Brisbane during the pandemic and the continued growth into this year,” PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said at the time.

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BRISBANE’S NEW BRIDESMAID SUBURBS

(Suburb/Median House Price/% growth 2 years)

GUMDALE v WAKERLEY

Gumdale $1.59m 48.6%

Wakerley $1.178m 25.7%

Distance: 1.6km

SEVEN HILLS v CANNON HILL

Seven Hills $1.45m 20.8%

Cannon Hill $1.131m 16.8%

Distance: 3.5km

GRANGE v STAFFORD

Grange $1.505m 20.4%

Stafford $892,500 5%

Distance: 1.7km

EIGHT MILE PLAINS v RUNCORN

Eight Mile Plains $1.25m 45.9%

Runcorn $800k 27%

Distance: 4.2km

CHELMER v GRACEVILLE

Chelmer $1,5m 10.7%

Graceville $1.27m 1.2%

Distance: 1.2km

(Source: Place Advisory. Median price is to September 2023)