Squeezed for space: Cost rise per bedroom revealed
Buyers are being squeezed for space, with shock new data revealing a per-room premium as rising living costs force families together.
The cost of a five-bedroom house in Brisbane has surged $700,000 in just five years, with extra sleeping space now considered a luxury amid soaring demand for multi-generational living arrangements.
Families seeking more space are forking out more than ever, with five bedrooms now costing $1.7m — half a million dollars more than a four-bedroom house.
As prices climb across the board, even a one-bedroom house has risen sharply, now priced at $907,500 in the Brisbane City Council local government area, new data shows.
The exclusive analysis by PRD shows the cost of a three-bedroom house in Brisbane has jumped by nearly $400,000 since 2019 to $1.029m.
The price per bedroom increases have been even more staggering on the Gold Coast, where the cost of a five-bedroom house is $1.66m — 88 per cent higher than it was five years ago.
PRD chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said the data showed the more bedrooms a property had, the higher its price and capital growth over the past five years in southeast Queensland
But the significant cost of upgrading to a larger home could prove a strategic move for families.
“With the current cost of living and housing supply crisis, having an extra bedroom to host family, friends or generate rental income is becoming more valuable,” Dr Mardiasmo said.
“For example, in Brisbane, you pay an extra $220,000 upgrading from a three-bedroom to a four-bedroom home, but the value of the larger property has increased by 75 per cent, compared to 58.5 per cent for the three-bedder.”
But priced-out buyers are getting in where they can, with even the cost of a one-bedroom house in the city up 30.6 per cent since 2019.
A knockdown, one-bedroom house in Brisbane’s north recently sold for $732,000 to a young couple who planned to spend more money renovating it, while another in Spring Hill fetched $825,000.
Patrick Boreham and Shaina Adams, who bought a one-bedder in Deagon, decided to prioritise location over size and adjusted their living arrangements to buy within their budget.
“It’s small,” Mr Boreham said. “I don’t know how people used to live in little cottages like this, but it’s fine. We can manage. We like the location of this place, and the fact that it’s a character building.
“We could negotiate [a price] in the low sevens, which is getting pretty hard to do now within 20km of Brisbane.
“It’s really annoying, because [with] our budget, we could have bought something pretty primo a few years ago. Ideally we wanted to buy in Northgate, but the prices have just taken off, so we missed the boat.”
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Dr Mardiasmo said more affordable housing arrangements could be found in the regions, including Cairns, Townsville and Toowoomba, which were experiencing strong growth, while Ipswich had emerged as the “dark horse” of the property market.
Ipswich recorded one of the biggest increases in the price of four-bedroom houses in the past five years — almost doubling from $405,000 to $730,000.
In Townsville and Cairns, the price of a one-bedroom house has more than doubled, and the cost of a two-bedroom house has jumped 60 per cent since 2019.
“Prices are really going strong in Ipswich, whether for houses or units, and we are seeing high five-years growth,” she said.
“The median price there is still under $1m but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go higher in 2025.”
Analysis of ABS statistics by property analyst Michael Matusik shows one in five households were made up of two generations, while about 10 per cent hold three, with those figures set to rise by up to 25 per cent by the time Brisbane hosts the Olympics in 2032.
“The traditional family home isn’t the only game in town anymore,” Mr Matusik said.
“More people are living solo or in varied family arrangements, including the rise in multigenerational households.”
But Mr Matusik said the supply of housing that catered for multi-generational households was in short supply.
“Our work suggests this demand could be as high as 25 per cent, yet, we estimate, less than 5 per cent of Australia’s existing housing stock successfully caters to this market,” Mr Matusik said.
Real estate boss John McGrath said families were turning to multigenerational living to support adult children, as the time required to save for a home deposit ballooned along with rising prices.
“This might take the form of a house divided into separate wings or granny flats being built in backyards,” Mr McGrath said.
“The term ‘teen retreats’ is becoming redundant. It’s more like ‘young adult retreats’ these days, as so many young people are staying in the family home well into their 20s to save money.”
Originally published as Squeezed for space: Cost rise per bedroom revealed