The 197 suburbs poised to join Qld’s ‘million dollar-plus’ club

Some of Queensland’s most affordable suburbs could join the $1m-plus club by 2028, with three locales tipped to push past $4 million. Will your suburb join the million dollar-plus club?

Some of Queensland’s most affordable suburbs could join the million dollar-plus club within five years, with analysis showing that 269 locations across the state could have seven figure home values by 2028.

Exclusive analysis by PropTrack has revealed that 197 suburbs with median dwelling values below $1 million now could break through that barrier by 2028 if prices continued to grow at the same pace as the past five years.

And the seventy-two suburbs that have already entered the million dollar-plus club could see their values boosted by between $467,000 (The Gap) and almost $3 million (Noosa Heads).

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68 Noosa Parade, Noosa Heads, sold for $19.6m in January 2023. Photo: Supplied.

The analysis, which looked at price growth between 2019 and 2023 – before, during and after the pandemic property boom – revealed that the Sunshine State could be home to three $4 million-plus suburbs by 2028 if prices continued to grow at the same pace.

If that were to occur, Noosa Heads would be the state’s most expensive suburb with a median value (houses and units combined) of $4.875 million, a staggering $2.925 million more than the current combined median of $1.95 million.

12 Noosa Parade, Noosa Heads, sold for $27m in July 2022

Hot on its heels is Sunshine Beach, which was the most expensive suburb at times during the boom.

If values were to increase in a similar fashion to the past five years, sought-after beach locale, home to celebrities and mega rich business moguls, prices could soar 127 per cent, up from $1.875 million to $4.248 million.

Buyers looking to purchase in Tallebudgera Valley would be forced to find an extra $1.98 million by 2028.

42 Syndicate Road, Tallebudgera Valley, sold for $4.25m in May 2023

Queensland’s most expensive suburb Teneriffe, which has a median value of $3.85 million for houses and $732,500 for units, was excluded due to the high proportion of unit sales compared to house sales.

The median dwelling price for Queensland’s second most expensive market, Mermaid Beach, was also skewed by the sheer number of unit sales, with buyers needing much deeper pockets for houses.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said that while it was unlikely Queensland would experience the same growth rate recorded during the pandemic years, there were key drivers that suggested price growth could continue.

“Certainly the last five years were pretty unusual,” he said.

“In 2021 alone, prices rose nationally by 23 per cent, the fastest growth since 1880, that’s 140 years ago.

“That was an unusually strong year and is unlikely to be repeated but southeast Queensland has always been a strong destination for migration due to its relative affordability (to Sydney and Melbourne) and its lifestyle, and it still is.”

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101 Welsby St, New Farm, recently sold for $20.5m

Meanwhile, Pullenvale, Doonan and Broadbeach Waters could join the $3 million-plus club within five years, while 28 suburbs could see their median values lifting over $2 million, the analysis revealed.

If the trend were to continue, Queensland could be home to 269 suburbs with a median value north of $1 million by 2028, with once affordable suburbs to get even more out of reach for buyers.

The Ipswich region is currently home to just one seven-figure suburb, Brookwater, but six more locales could join that club by 2028 including Springfield, which has an median dwelling price of $656,000.

Aerial view of Ipswich. Picture: Rob Williams

Logan-Beaudesert has just one $1 million-plus suburb now but could have 15.

The Moreton Bay region is currently home to three suburbs with median values north of $1 million – Samford Valley, Cashmere and Newport – but could have 22 suburbs within five years.

The first homebuyer suburb of Griffin, with a dwelling median of $650,000, could hit $1.048 million on past five year trends, while Samford Valley could become the region’s first $2 million suburb.

Up north, Cairns could have three million dollar-plus suburbs, the Sunshine Coast 55, the Gold Coast 49, Toowoomba 4 and Wide Bay will have 16.

18 Friend Street, Edge Hill, in one of Cairn’s possible million dollar-plus suburbs, sold for $885,000

But the call for people to return to work could cause some places to “flatline”, according to Cohen Handler Buyers Agents Queensland managing director Jordan Navybox.

He tipped that some suburbs, particularly those further away from main centres, could soon see an increase in listings at the same time as demand dried up.

“Those places further away from the main centres, people piled into them to get away from the cities but the roads are busy again, people are back in the office and they are getting sick of the commute,” he said.

“I think we could see more supply than buyers in some areas, but as they leave those areas that will put pressure on purchase and rental prices closer to the cities again.

“And we are already hearing from buyers looking to get back into the main centres.”