‘Sydney harbour prices’: One bedders selling for $1m
One-bedroom units are selling for more than $1m across Queensland’s southeast as housing costs continue to bite.
Buyers now need a million bucks just to buy a one-bedroom bolthole in parts of Queensland’s southeast, as a lack of standalone houses in the market drives up unit prices.
A 56 sqm shoebox in Noosa’s Hastings Street is on the market for a staggering $3.6m with no direct ocean view, while in Brisbane, new one-bedders are going for $1.5m.
Exclusive research from PRD reveals there were 50 one-bedroom unit sales over $1m on the Gold Coast last year and 36 in Brisbane.
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“The rise in $1m one-bedroom units sales is mostly due to supply issues,” PRD chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said.
“Due to the very low amount of new, stand-alone house stock on the market, people are turning their attention to units. Thus, there is more demand and competition for units — pushing up prices.”
A record $5.75m was paid just six months ago for a 73 sqm, one-bedroom penthouse in the popular Noosa resort, Netanya, and another two one-bedders in the building sold for more than $5.5m.
Local agents say the holiday rental income and capital growth justifies the eyewatering price tags.
“Per square metre, it’s Sydney harbourfront prices,” Frank Milat of Richardson & Wrench - Noosa Heads said.
“The returns are pretty good. They have a strong holiday income with very high tariffs on Hastings Street that justify the price — as a holiday investment.”
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Down the street, a single bedroom apartment with no ocean or beach views at 127/32 Hastings Street is on the market for $1.75m, while another is advertised for $2.39m.
“The amount of stock here is very limited,” Mr Milat said. “(The buyers are) mostly Australians — many Noosa shire locals — who already own properties in the street.”
He said Noosa continued to attract rich-listers, which in turn lured more big spenders and contributed to higher property prices.
“If a house is worth $30m here, they don’t have a problem buying an apartment for $6m.”
High construction costs have also pushed up the price of new residential product — meaning one-bedroom apartments in newly constructed buildings are selling for a small fortune.
In one of Brisbane CBD’s newest buildings, 443 Queen Street, a one-bedroom apartment (albeit with river views) is priced at $1.495m.
In the popular suburb of Teneriffe, a renovated one-bedroom unit in one of the Woolstore buildings in Macquarie Street is expected to sell for more than $1m.
Ben Percival of Percival Property, who is marketing the property, said the unit sold last year for $850,000.
“One bedrooms have had the most growth recently, but this is the premium for one bedroom (units),” Mr Percival said.
“They range between $700,000 and $1m depending on the quality and position.”
On the Gold Coast, one-bedders in the new Jewel Residences development are all well over $1m.
One recently sold for $1.35m and another for $1.45m, with one unit currently for sale for $1.9m.
Even older stock is fetching sky-high money if the location is right.
In the increasingly popular suburb of Coolangatta, a one-bedroom unit in a building built in the 1960s is on the market for $1.035m.
Late last year, a one-bedder at 2/121-127 Musgrave St, Coolangatta, sold for $1.05m within a week of hitting the market.
A couple of months earlier, a one-bedroom unit at 4/22 Marine Pde also fetched $1m.
“We are definitely seeing more $1m one-bedroom units being sold it in the market,” Dr Mardiasmo said.
“This is particularly true on the Gold Coast, where the number of $1m one-bedroom units sold have increased steadily year-on-year since 2019.”
Dr Mardiasmo said the number of Brisbane suburbs where buyers could find a one-bedroom unit for sale for $1m had jumped from 22 in 2023 to 35 in 2024.
“We are now seeing $1m one-bedroom unit sales in areas that one might not expect,” she said.
New entrants to the $1m one-bedroom units club include Chermside, Clayfield, Nundah, Petrie Terrace, Woolloongabba, Coorparoo, Hamilton, and St Lucia.
Originally published as ‘Sydney harbour prices’: One bedders selling for $1m