Where a house is now $300k more expensive than a unit
You need $1m to buy an apartment in this suburb, but the price gap between houses and units is widening.
The median unit price in Brisbane’s most expensive suburb to buy an apartment is now almost $1m after a phenomenal year of price growth in the unit market.
Balmoral in the city’s leafy, inner-east has recorded some huge sales this year, propelling it to the top of a list of the priciest unit suburbs provided by PropTrack — the median unit price jumping from $705,000 12 months ago to $958,000.
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Bardon, Camp Hill, and Teneriffe, are the next most expensive suburbs to buy an apartment, with median unit prices all above $870,000.
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But new research from Nuestar and Hotspotting reveals it’s still much cheaper to buy a unit than a house in many areas.
The data shows the price gap between apartments and houses has grown significantly over the past three years, with the average Brisbane unit $300,000 cheaper than a house.
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Buyers now need more than $3m to buy a typical, three-bedroom house in New Farm, according to PropTrack, with the inner-city suburb topping the list of most expensive suburbs in Brisbane to buy a house.
That figure was helped in part by the sale of a home at 89 Welsby St, New Farm, for a cool $18m earlier this year.
| BRISBANE’S MOST EXPENSIVE SUBURBS TO BUY A HOUSE | |
| Suburb | Median price |
| New Farm | $3.029m |
| Ascot | $2.34m |
| Hamilton | $2.32m |
| Clayfield | $2.15m |
| Hawthorne | $2.112m |
| St Lucia | $2.05m |
| Robertson | $2.01m |
| Bulimba | $1.96m |
| Wilston | $1.955m |
| Paddington | $1.92m |
| Source: PropTrack |
The neighbouring suburbs of Ascot, Hamilton, and Clayfield, in the city’s inner north all follow closely with median house prices of between $2.1m and $2.3m.
Brisbane’s residential sale price record was broken this year with the offmarket sale of a heritage property at 32 Sutherland Ave in Ascot for a whopping $23m.
Hamilton also clocked some big transactions in 2024, with another historic home on a huge land parcel at 21 Killara Ave fetching $15m.
A visually striking home designed by architect, Joe Adsett, at 7 Prospect Tce, Hamilton changed hands for $12.3m, and a newly built five-bedroom home at 62 Toorak Road, Hamilton sold to a local family for $10m.
| BRISBANE’S MOST EXPENSIVE SUBURBS TO BUY A UNIT | |
| Suburb | Median price |
| Balmoral | $958,000 |
| Bardon | 910,000 |
| Camp Hill | $890,000 |
| Teneriffe | $872,000 |
| New Farm | $842,000 |
| Bulimba | $830,000 |
| Carina | $795,000 |
| Red Hill | $782,000 |
| Carina Heights | $772,000 |
| Norman Park | $769,000 |
| Source: PropTrack |
The median house price in Hamilton has grown to $2.32m, from $1.9m a year ago and $1.55m three years ago.
Nuestar director of property Michael Wilkins said the strong growth in house prices since the pandemic had led to more buyers choosing apartments for their affordability and superior locations.
“Apartments in capital cities, suburbs, and coastal regions generally offer residents some sort of view, whether it be a water or city vista, and they are a low-maintenance way to own or rent property,” Mr Wilkins said.
“In terms of a secure, lockup-and-leave lifestyle, it is hard to beat apartment living.”
Mr Wilkins said the lower price points of apartments were expected to drive strong demand from both homebuyers and investors in 2025.
“Greater affordability is encouraging a shift from houses to apartments, and higher gross yields on apartments are drawing investors back to the market,” he said.
“However, the primary demand is coming from owner-occupiers and downsizers with substantial equity in their large family homes, who are less impacted by higher interest rates.”
Hotspotting director Terry Ryder said buyers had reset their expectations and were now focusing on the apartment market, particularly in inner-city locations and popular coastal and lifestyle destinations.
“Even in the most expensive markets, the price difference between a house and an apartment can be substantial,” Mr Ryder said.
“It’s not just that apartments are a more affordable option, which makes the apartment market more enticing for investors as well. There are also a growing number of locations where apartments are outperforming the same suburb’s house market in terms of median price growth, long-term average growth, and average rental yields.”
Originally published as Where a house is now $300k more expensive than a unit
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