Suburbs where hipsters are grabbing land bargains and how to avoid the ‘curse of paradise’

As demand for property grows, new data reveals where you can still score affordable land and the areas where availability has dried up. LAND PRICES IN YOUR AREA

Young families are moving to places such as Yarrabilba in Logan where the price of property is more “affordable” compared to Brisbane or the Gold Coast.

Logan is tipped to become Queensland’s hipster capital in the next five years, while up-market Noosa could be hit with the “curse of paradise” in the lead up to the Olympic Games.

Latest state government land release data shows Logan will carry the burden of the state’s housing crisis and is expected to become home to hundreds of thousands of millennials and their families.

Land development data published at the end of May showed the number of residential lot approvals by the state government had fallen by 31 per cent since 2015.

But the data also showed Logan, which has the most available land supply in the state for residential development, would likely pick up that deficit.

Logan’s 8647ha of suitable land was expected to generate a massive 107,531 dwellings when developed, outstripping Ipswich, where its 5820ha will result in 96,162 houses.

Bundaberg had 15,664ha of land supply but was only expected to generate 15,212 dwellings.

Even the Gold Coast cannot compete. Its 1562ha of suitable residential land is tipped to provide 52,140 dwellings.

Not only does Logan have the most available developable land on the market, the data also showed that it offered some of the cheapest vacant land prices in the southeast.

The median vacant land price in the December quarter was $326,000 with a median price per square metre of $715.

Buyers would prefer Logan prices to those on the Gold Coast, where the vacant land median price is $615,000 or $1107/sqm or Brisbane’s $642,000 ($1412/sqm).

Vacant land prices were also lower in Ipswich, where the median was $272,000 or $677/sqm.

In Redland it was $70,000 ($109/sqm), mainly because of vacant lots on the southern bay islands.

The data also showed there was a possibility of land banking in Redland.

Fiteni’s Woodbury Estate near the Victoria Point Shopping Centre in Redland. Picture: Fiteni

The city recorded 568ha of developable land in March and 141 “lapsed” residential lots, suggesting delays in development and sales or land banking.

Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher said the housing boom in Logan was expected to be driven by “clucky” millennials, many fleeing one-bedroom inner-city apartments as they ditched the nightclub scene to move to suburbia to rear families.

“Millennials are locking into places in Logan such as Yarrabilba or greenfield sites which are easy to develop and have no neighbours to object,” Mr Kuestenmacher said.

“Within five years, today’s inner-city hipsters will have moved and will be patronising coffee shops in Logan, where there is a lot of room for unfettered residential growth.

“As long as the government gets the mix of commuting connections of roads and rail right, this will be one of the fastest growing areas in the lead up to the Olympics.”

Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher said Logan would soon become a hipster capital as young families move out of the inner city into more affordable family housing in Logan.

Mr Kuestenmacher said Logan was popular with young families because it was affordable, with lower prices per square metre compared to Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

He said before the 2021 census, 25,687 people moved into Logan with 18,697 from within Queensland and 1810 from overseas.

He said 2047 were from NSW, 1135 from Victoria and 409 from Western Australia and South Australia.

At the other end of the residential land development scale, Mr Kuestenmacher said the future of the picturesque Sunshine Coast beach town of Noosa was not as straightforward.

Noosa is feeling the housing crisis with only 95ha of residential land supply. Picture: Courier-Mail

The coastal beauty spot only had 95ha of residential land supply as of March, when it recorded a total of six lot registrations. There was only one residential lot approval in the entire December 2022 quarter.

Along with the tight land supply, the high median price of $932,000 for vacant land and $1,232,500 median price for a detached house in Noosa would also rule out middle-income and low-income families, which Mr Kuestenmacher said would be a problem.

Australian Bureau of Statistics building approvals data showed there were 2537 dwellings built in Redland between January 2021 and April 2023.

During the same period, 10,537 dwellings were built in Logan; 5632 in Ipswich; and 9300 in Moreton Bay.

“Noosa’s tight land supply will be cost prohibitive for those working in lower-paid care or service sectors,” Mr Kuestenmacher said.

“Those workers will not be able to afford to buy into the market and there is no room for long-term rental properties.

“It is the ‘curse of paradise’, where rich retirees will have no source of labour to keep their high lifestyle and the workers will have to move away.

“Unless the state government or local council intervenes with measures to increase housing supply for middle and lower-income workers, retirement in Noosa could become much less pleasant.”

State Opposition deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie said the state’s housing crisis was partly due to the government failing to release enough residential land for development over the past eight years.

“The housing crisis lays squarely at the feet of the state government which, for nearly a decade, has failed to release enough land for homes ahead of population growth,” he said.

“The state government’s own data shows residential lot approvals have fallen 31 per cent since taking office, meaning homes haven’t been built and now we have serious supply shortages forcing hardworking families to live in tents and cars.

“Unless we unlock supply ahead of population growth, the state housing crisis is only going to get worse.”

The State Development Department said it was working closely with councils across the southeast to curb land banking and ensure adequate land supply and housing choice.

The department said it was going to use the latest population data to set new growth targets for all southeast councils, in an effort to ease the state’s housing crisis.

It also said it was investing in catalyst infrastructure to unlock land supply in growth areas and special state government designated Priority Development Areas, such as Caloundra South and Yarrabilba.

“The department is specifically working with Redland City Council to deliver a new housing strategy reflective of current and future population trends,” the department said.

“We are also introducing best-practice methods to improve the government’s land supply evidence base which is occurring alongside a review of the SEQ Regional Plan, which is under way as a direct outcome of the recent housing summit.

“While developers have the right to release land in response to market demand, the state government encourages developers to work with local councils and other stakeholders to ensure sufficient land supply is available to respond to demand.”