Queensland’s 30 cheapest places to buy real estate

QLD’s real estate boom may have smashed many parts of the state, but new data shows 30 suburbs still have median property prices below $152,000, from Cairns to Ipswich. SEE THE LIST

This three bedroom home at 61/102A Moores Pocket Road, Moores Pocket, is listed at $259,000. The Ipswich suburb is one of several listed as being among the cheapest places in Qld to buy real estate.

Queensland’s property price rises may have smashed many parts of the state, but new data shows 30 suburbs still have median prices below $152,000, from Cairns to Ipswich.

Latest REA Group/PropTrack market data shows the top end of the cheapest 30 median prices in the state was $150,000 for houses in the Cairns suburbs of Goondi Bend and $151,000 for units in Manunda, with 28 other suburbs across the state coming in below that level for house and units.

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A surprise inclusion given how astronomical price rises have been in Greater Brisbane was the Ipswich suburb of Moores Pocket where the median unit price is $110,000, just 42 minutes from the Brisbane CBD.

A three-bedroom house at 22 Mackay Street, Pentland, has a price of $80,000.

The cheapest overall came out of Townsville: $65,000 for houses in Pentland and $70,000 for both units and houses in Ravenswood. Townsville also had a third entry in the cheapest 30 list, with houses in Home Hill ranked 24th cheapest at $147,000.

Two suburbs in Darling Downs-Maranoa made up the rest of the top five cheapest median property prices in Queensland – houses in Tara (three hours west of Brisbane) at $80,000 and Dirranbandi (six hours west of Brisbane) at $82,500. Three other suburbs in the area made the cut: Houses in Injune at $110,000, Mitchell where it’s at $117,500 and Jandowae which is currently at $140,000.

REA Group/PropTrack head of research Cameron Kusher said most of the suburbs with low median prices were in quite remote locations.

“With fewer amenities and further away from larger cities, less competition for homes in these regions is a major factor in prices being low, despite the immense price growth Queensland has seen over the last year.”

Suburbs with low median prices for units tend to be less remote, he said, but the affordable prices suggested many of those were older and smaller units which came with a lower price point.

A 0.4ha block of residential land at 149 Deighton Street, Ravenswood, has a price of $40,000.

“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen preferences for larger properties, which is likely resulting in lower demand for these properties,” Mr Kusher said.

“A number of these suburbs are mining towns which have seen prices fall recently as the mining investment boom came to an end. If demand for resources and investment in mine expansions returns, they may be more likely to see price increases.”

Mr Kusher said affordability was not the only driver of demand, which in turn can impact prices.

73 Milne Street, Tara, has gone under contract for an undisclosed sum.

“Being well located with amenities and a flourishing local economy is also a very important determinant of whether prices grow or not.”

Queensland’s cheapest 30 median prices came from a wide range of regions: There were six suburbs each out of Queensland Outback and Central Queensland, five from Darling Downs-Maranoa, four from Townsville, three from the Mackay- Isaac-Whitsunday region, three in Wide Bay, two in Cairns and one in Ipswich.

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Originally published as Queensland’s 30 cheapest places to buy real estate