Why now might be the time to buy a unit in QLD
Unit price growth is outpacing houses in 97 Queensland suburbs, from inner-city locations to tourist havens and beachside towns. Find out why and where!
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Unit price growth is outpacing houses in 97 Queensland suburbs, from inner-city locations in Brisbane to tourist havens and beachside towns.
Exclusive data from Ray White Group shows Brisbane had the second highest number of top performing unit suburbs in Australia with 48, behind Sydney with 67 suburbs.
Hot on the River City’s heels was Melbourne with 45 suburbs where unit price growth was outpacing houses.
But it is not just the capital city which is seeing the trend, as affordability and low levels of stock force buyers to look beyond traditional bricks and mortar.
There are now 17 suburbs on the Gold Coast where units are the top performers, nine in Far North Queensland and seven on the Sunshine Coast.
“Standard investment advice is to always buy a house instead of an apartment if you can afford to do so,” Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said.
“The primary reason being that house price growth always exceeds unit price growth over the long term.
“While this is often the case, it doesn’t always hold true.”
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Ms Conisbee said unit values in Brisbane, Adelaide and regional South Australia had exceeded house price growth over the past 12 months, mainly due to a combination of underbuilding and population growth.
“Whereas Sydney and Melbourne went into the pandemic with a strong pipeline of new development, this wasn’t the case elsewhere,” she said.
“Brisbane specifically has seen very strong population growth since then.
“Adelaide has also seen similar growth.”
Among the top suburbs for unit price performance in Brisbane were Norman Park, Alderley, Morningside, Clayfield and Enoggera.
Logan had four top suburbs - Waterford West, Sprngwood, Woodridge and Beenleigh.
The Moreton Bay region had six suburbs - Brendale, Lawnton, Redcliffe, Bongaree, Bellara and Woorim - and Redland City had two, Thorneside and Cleveland.
Meanwhile, there remains a 1.2 per cent difference in unit and house price growth in regional Queensland, the data shows.
But there are plenty of suburbs where unit price growth is outpacing houses, including eight in Cairns, Townsville (3), Mackay-Whitsunday (4), Cassowary Coast (1), Fraser Coast (1), Gladstone (2), Livingstone (1), Sunshine Coast (7) and Toowoomba (3).
In total, there were 294 suburbs across the country where unit price growth is now exceeding houses.
Of the top 10 suburbs with the biggest gap between unit and house price growth over the past year, only one was located in Queensland.
Sunshine Beach apartments have a median value of $1.5 million now, just behind Kurraba Point ($1,542,500) and ahead of Lilyfield ($1.358m), both in Sydney.
The Ray White research comes after the Hotspotting National Top 10 Positive Cashflow Hotspots report revealed its top 10 investor picks for 2024, with four in Queensland.
For houses, Bundaberg North and Berserker were the top picks, while for units, Bowen Hills and Yorkeys Knob were among the top performers.
The Ray White report comes after the Hotspotting National Top 10 Positive Cashflow Hotspots report revealed its top 10 investor hotspots nationally, with Queensland taking out four of those listings.
Bundaberg North and Berserker were the top pick for houses, while only two unit suburbs made the list - Bowen Hills in Brisbane and Yorkeys Knob in Cairns.
Hotspotting director Terry Ryder said regional areas, and in particular, Queensland, were increasingly becoming locations of choice for educated investors looking for cash flow and capital growth.
Jane Skipper has lived off and on at her stunning city apartment for the past 18 years.
But with a new chapter about to start, it is time to sell to free up capital for her next stage in life.
Located in the tightly-held Parkland Apartments opposite Roma Street Parklands, the two-bedroom apartment is located on the11th level.
“With unit prices performing well, and Roma Street Parklands really coming into its own, it was time to free up some capitalfor our next investment,” she said. “And with all of the development in the lead-up to the Olympics, it is beautifully positioned and will never be built out.”
The apartment is being marketed by Ray White Bulimba agent Danial Lazzaroni and will go to auction on April 20.
“The unit market in the city is hotter than ever,” he said.
“The last one I sold had over 100 inspections in three weeks.”
Originally published as Why now might be the time to buy a unit in QLD
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