Where it is cheaper to buy than rent in Queensland

It is still cheaper to buy a home than rent one in nearly 70 Queensland locations, with one beachside suburb offering a monthly saving of $1000 once you’re on the property ladder. See which suburbs make the list.

It is still cheaper to buy than rent in nearly 70 Queensland locations, with the opportunity to save almost $1000 a month by buying rather than leasing in one beachside suburb.

Exclusive analysis by Finder of PropTrack data reveals there are even seven Greater Brisbane suburbs where tenants are paying more in rent than they would in mortgage repayments, compared to none in Sydney and only one in Melbourne.

There are seven suburbs in Greater Brisbane where it is still possible to save money on a mortgage rather than pay rent. Picture Brisbane City Council

The analysis found it is cheaper to buy a unit rather than rent one in the suburbs of Kingston, Durack, Woodridge, Logan Central, Waterford West and Eastern Heights, while it is more affordable to pay off a house in Stapylton than hand over money to a landlord.

There are 59 regional Queensland suburbs where it is cheaper to buy than rent, compared to only 14 suburbs across NSW and three in Victoria.

Cheaper deals can be found across most parts of the Sunshine State, excluding the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

The Queenland suburb with the highest rent-to-mortgage ratio of 162 per cent was Bucasia in Mackay, where the median weekly asking rent for a unit is $338, or around $1453 a month, compared to a median monthly mortgage repayment of $497, based on an 80 per cent loan to value ratio (LVR), or $559 (90 per cent LVR) — a potential saving of $967 a month.

But it is slim pickings on the affordable unit front, with just two one-bedroom studio villas listed for under $100,000 in the state.

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47/1 Griffin Avenue, Bucasia: Sold: $88,000 in November 2022; Rent at time of sale: $290 a week. Features: This one bedroom poolside bungalow less than 100m from the beach is located within a resort with a gym, tennis court and pool. It has a kitchenette, queen bed, bathroom and was sold fully furnished.

Both are located within a beachfront resort and are currently tenanted for between $290 and $310 a week.

Unit dwellers in Koongal, a suburb of Rockhampton, could potentially save almost $620 a month, while for house renters, the biggest savings could be made in Collinsville, Blackwater, Moura, Depot Hill and Pioneer.

In the major regions, savings can also be made in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone, Rockhampton

There are three suburbs in the Townsville region where it is cheaper to buy than rent a house – Heatley, Vincent and Ayr.

It is also potentially cheaper to pay off a unit than rent one in suburbs such as Hyde Park, Idalia, Railway Estate, Hermit Park, Douglas and the CBD.

1/2 Haymarket Street, Hyde Park: Sold: $145,000 on February 24; Rent at time of sale: $240 a week; Features: Just minutes from major shopping centres and entertainment precincts, this unit has two airconditioned bedrooms, a modern kitchens, a laundry and private bathroom.

Further north, it is still cheaper to rent than buy a house in Cairns, but there are plenty of unit suburbs where it could pay for tenants to chat to a financial advisor.

They include suburbs such as Edge Hill, Holloways Beach, Clifton Beach, Smithfield and Parramatta Park.

2/29 Mount Peter Road, Edmonton: Sold: $186,500 in October 2022; Rental appraisal: $320 a week; Features: This two-bedroom ground floor unit has an open plan living area, new kitchen, laundry and carport with a storage room. There is a pool in the complex.

House renters in towns such as Rockhampton City, Charters Towers, St George, Longreach, Proserpine and Bundaberg may also be paying a premium on rent.

On the flip-side, the research also found that it was still cheaper to rent a house in 714 suburbs and a unit in 1100 suburbs across Queensland, despite soaring rent costs.

In Teneriffe, it is cheaper to rent a house than buy one even with a 20 per cent deposit.

There, a house has a median sales price of $3.475m with a monthly mortgage repayment of $17,062 compared to a months rent of $3336, according to the analysis.

A property in Kingsholme St, Teneriffe, sold for a suburb record of $8.5m.

In Clear Island Waters on the Gold Coast, where a median weeks rent will cost $1375, it is also still cheaper to rent than buy.

The number of suburbs where it is cheaper to buy than rent nationally has fallen to just one in 10 since interest rates were hiked 10 times to 3.6 percentage points — its highest level since May 2012.

“Homebuyers’ chances of snagging a cheaper deal than renters slightly improves in Western Australia (23 per cent) and Queensland (14 per cent),” the report found.

Finder’s head of consumer research Graham Cooke said that even though sales prices had come down, the increases to the official cash rate had resulted in “ballooning mortgage costs – around $12,000 per year, in fact”.

“This has meant that houses are less affordable now than before prices went down,” he said.

“The number of suburbs where renters can afford a mortgage and pay the same has plunged dramatically.”

Finder’s Graham Cooke

PropTrack economist Cameron Kusher said that the situation was particularly tough for hopeful first home buyers.

“Because interest rates have risen so fast, for the most part it will be cheaper to rent than buy,” he said.

“But in saying that, most people don’t buy where they rent so in some of the larger cities and regional areas, going further out might make sense.”

Regardless, Mr Kusher said it was a tough market, with dwelling values down around 5 per cent and borrowing capacities down around 25 per cent.

“That makes making that leap from renting to home ownership that much harder,” he said.