Hey big spender: House prices skyrocket across SEQ

Demand for housing and skyrocketing prices are showing no signs of slowing in south-east Queensland as the region continues to grow eight years out from the Olympics.

Queensland – and in particular the south-east – is booming. Some 268 suburbs across the state, nearly 20 per cent, now sit in the $1 million price club, according to REA Group.

Brisbane is now Australia’s second-most-expensive city in which to buy a house after surpassing Melbourne.

The Sunshine State trails only NSW for million-dollar suburbs, and a further 37 are expected to join that club in 2025.

Brisbane, which will host the 2032 Games, is now Australia’s second-most-expensive city in which to buy a house after the median value climbed to $937,479, according to CoreLogic data released in June.

PropTrack data from July puts Brisbane’s annual median house price growth behind just Perth and Adelaide. The remainder of Queensland trails only Western Australia in annual growth for all dwellings.

As demand for housing soars, the Queensland government has a plan to deliver 1 million homes – including 53,500 social housing properties – by 2046.

This will help offset ongoing interstate and overseas migration, which saw the state’s population rise by about 144,000 since September 2023 alone.

But the Real Estate Institute of Queensland continues to be surprised by quarterly data.

“Each quarter when we look at the data, we keep thinking to ourselves, ‘it’s probably peaked now; it’s reached its heights’, and then it continues to grow,” chief executive Antonia Mercorella said.

“What the pandemic did is it drove people to property because there’s a sense of security associated with property. It’s a tangible asset; it’s a tangible place where you can invest your money.”

Just when Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief Antonia Mercorella thinks the state’s house prices have peaked, they rise some more.

High demand, a lack of supply, and construction constraints are ongoing issues.

Mercorella said projects were costing 30 per cent more in Queensland compared to other states.

“We have these competing demands,” she said.

“There’s no viability for developers or builders to be doing anything at that more affordable end of the market, so the upshot is that it’s putting this immense pressure on the established housing market.”

These high-end homes, such as the “Sovereign Collection” set for construction on the Gold Coast by Singaporean billionaire Ching Chiat Kwong, will be way out of the reach of most Queenslanders.

Four “Royal Pavilions” are expected to fetch $25 million each, while six other penthouses are estimated to sell for $9 million apiece.

These residences cater to the ultra-wealthy and are indicative of the interest in south-east Queensland’s property market, Mercorella said.

“It says a lot about where we are as a state and the strength of our property market.

The “Sovereign Collection” waterfront properties include access to marina berths for superyachts.

“We also have to recognise that there will be many who will be quite disheartened by that and feel like it’s a representation of a property market that is out of reach for so many Queenslanders.

“It’s almost impossible for people to comprehend the market that we’re in.”

AAP