Brisbane Property Market 2021 [October Updated]

The Brisbane property market is set to soar in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics. Let’s learn a bit more about Brisbane’s property market. 

Table Of Content

1. Brisbane Property Market News [October 2021]
2. Brisbane Property Market Growth & History
3. Brisbane Property Market Forecast 2021
4. How Will The Olympics Affect Brisbane’s Property Market?
5. Brisbane Growth Suburbs
6. Brisbane Million-Dollar Suburbs
7. Affordable Suburbs in The Brisbane CBD
8. Brisbane apartment market 2021
9. Brisbane Rental Property Market News
10. Vacancy Rate in Brisbane Property Market
11. Rental Yields in Brisbane
12. Brisbane Rent Prices
13. Property Investment Advice For Brisbane

Capital of the ‘Sunshine State’, Brisbane has more sunny days per year than any other Australian capital city. With a population of 2,270,000, Brisbane is the third-most populous capital city in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne and has served as the birthplace for icons like Geoffrey Rush and bands like Powderfinger and Savage Garden. 

With stable temperatures across all seasons, this subtropical coastal city is perfect for outdoor activities like going to the beach or visiting some of the city’s landmarks like Botanic Gardens or the Wheel of Brisbane. 

Brisbane residents and tourists also have the Olympics to look forward to in 2032, which Brisbane recently won the bid to host. With a host of big infrastructure plans in the works for the Olympic Games such as an improvement to roads, stadiums and the development of an Olympic Village, Brisbane is definitely a city to keep an eye on. 

As such, it should come as no surprise that the Brisbane property market is beginning to heat up, having reached a median house price of $678,236, which is up 13% for the year.

Occupying a goldilocks zone of affordability and livability, Brisbane has a lot going for it’s property market.

Discover how to find and secure properties at up to 40% below market value

Brisbane Property Market News [October 2021]

During the coronavirus pandemic, Queensland has enjoyed an influx of domestic migration – likely due to the inability for people to travel abroad, as well as the reduced necessity to travel to Sydney or Melbourne for work. 

In fact, Domestic migration in Australia is at a level not seen since the ABS began measuring it in 2001, and Queensland has been the primary recipient of this. There were 9,763 interstate migrations to Queensland over the December 2020 quarter, 27.5% of which came from Melbourne. 

This spike in migration to Queensland has driven Brisbane’s vacancy rates downard, with Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) data showing that 22 out of 35 LGAs have recorded their lowest vacancy rate or equalled it over the last 11 years.

Over the June quarter, Brisbane’s vacancy rate dropped from 2.1% to 1.7% from the previous quarter.

The CEO of REIQ, Antonia Mercorella, has said that “the COVID-19 phenomenon of people moving to the regions for lifestyle purposes is still having an effect on vacancy rates.”

This influx of new residents to Brisbane is driving up property values as well as rent prices, according to Domain: 

“Low vacancy rates, interstate migration and skyrocketing property prices [have driven up] median weekly asking rents by $10 in three months to $460 for houses and $410 for units. House rents in some hot spots, such as Brisbane west, climbed by almost 8 per cent to $550.”

Source: CoreLogic

Over the past year, Brisbane’s dwelling values have increased by 19.9%, just above the average for capital cities which sits at 19.5% according to CoreLogic. 

In August, Brisbane’s property market ranked the third-fastest city for price growth for the month at 2% growth, behind Canberra and Hobart at 2.2% and 2.3% respectively.

Brisbane Property Market Growth & History

In 1990, Brisbane’s median house price was $151,259 in 1990. Now, Brisbane’s median house price is $678,236, which is an increase of nearly 450% in three decades.

Suburbs like Teneriffe went from having a median house price of $137,213 in the 90s, to now being one of the most highly-sought after suburbs in Australia, with a median price just shy of $1.8 million.

Brisbane median house prices per suburb. Source: Courier Mail

Much of the value increases seen in Brisbane suburbs like New Farm and Teneriffe can be attributed to gentrification, argues CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless, who said: 

“If you think back to the 1980s and 19902, urban renewal wasn’t even thought of but progressively we have seen a lot of these inner city precincts undergo a very structured urban renewal process and along with that came a whole bunch of capital investment to rejuvenate the housing stock.”

In addition to gentrification, steady population growth in Brisbane has helped to fuel the growth of the Brisbane property market. Over the past decade, Brisbane’s population has increased by 21.5%.

The rise in domestic migration to Brisbane amid the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to further fuel property market growth, which will continue to be expanded when the international borders open, says Tim Lawless. 

“If you open up international borders again, you get another surge in population growth.”

“We will first see inner city apartment markets’ tenancy demand shore-up and stabilise and the progressively see that permanent migration trend flow through to additional purchasing demand and a second wave of price surges.”

“We already have an increase in demand being fuelled by low interest rates and an economy that is outperforming forecasts against a really low supply backdrop with listing numbers about 20 percent down on what they were a year ago and demand 35 per cent up.”

Brisbane Property Market Forecast 2021

The 2032 Olympics will almost certainly play a role on Brisbane’s property market, both in the years leading up to, and following the quadrennial sporting event. This is important to note if you wish to purchase a property in the lead-up to the event with the intention of selling it closer to 2032.

However, if you are interested in property flipping, you will likely be operating within a much shorter timeframe than the next decade, and as such, the Brisbane property market predictions pertaining to the Olympics won’t be of too much concern to you until closer to the date. 

Instead, You’ll want to draw your attention to the recent influx of domestic migrants to Queensland throughout the pandemic, as this has been driving down vacancy rates and pushing up rental yields and property values. 

As lockdowns come to an end in Sydney and Melbourne, it remains to be seen whether the influx of migrants into Queensland will stay or return to the cities. However, polling data from the ABC shows that the vast majority of Australians wish to continue working remotely, and as such, we may see a new working landscape in the post-COVID Australia – one in which offices aren’t essential. In this scenario, many of the new migrants to Brisbane would likely remain, amid the more affordable living standards. 

Supporting this argument is the fact that disaster relief payments will be coming to an end, meaning that there will be fewer economic and fiscal safety nets for workers and businesses coming out of these latest lockdowns. This may increase the likelihood of people remaining in a more affordable region such as Brisbane. 

With the RBA maintaining historically low interest rates, the Olympics on the distant horizon, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia predicting a 16.6% increase in Brisbane property values by December 2022, things are looking positive for the River City.

How Will The Olympics Affect Brisbane’s Property Market? 

Winning the bid to host the 2032 Olympics may prove very beneficial for Brisbane’s economy, as well as it’s property market. 

One such benefit of hosting the quadrennial games is the increase in tourism that the host city can enjoy. For example, in the years between 1998 and 2002, Sydney noticed a 16% growth in international tourism, two years before and after the Games. 

In addition to this, hosting the Olympic Games can serve as a useful incentive to accelerate local infrastructure projects. 

For example, Barcelona was estimated to have built 50 years worth of infrastructure in the 8 years preceding the 1992 Olympics which it hosted. 

Naturally, as infrastructure improves in Brisbane and a huge cultural event like the Olympics unfolds within the city, property prices will be pushed up. This is particularly the case in areas closest to the proposed Olympic Village, and to the Gabba Stadium where the sporting events will unfold.

According to CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless, the surrounding suburbs to these Olympic hubs are going to see the biggest uptick in demand:

 “The obvious candidate for an uplift in demand is Woolloongabba and the surrounding suburbs.”

Brisbane Growth Suburbs

According to NAB’s hedonic dwelling price forecasts, Brisbane is expected to have the third-largest increase in property values of any capital city with a growth of 19.5%, following Hobart and Sydney who may see a 23.5% and 21.6% rise respectively.

As such, investors would be wise to look at Brisbane suburb growth rates, should they wish to flip properties or seek out rental yields in Brisbane. 

Courier Mail, in conjunction with Realestate.com.au recently released a list of some of the best suburbs to buy in brisbane for capital growth, factoring in growth in rental yield, total number of annual sales in that suburb, the growth in the annual demand for a rental in that suburb and more. 

Top performers with regard to number of houses sold were Redland Bay, Deception Bay and Fortitude Valley, which saw 391, 339 and 318 sales for 2021 respectively. 

Bongaree, Banksia Beach and Bray Park saw the highest increases in demand for rentals over the year, hitting 27.2%, 21.5% and 20.7% respectively. 

A notable performer was New Farm, a suburb which had Brisbane’s highest median price growth with a whopping 96.4% increase over the decade. 

This is why it’s so important to Find out Brisbane’s top growth suburbs, in order to make sizable returns on any property investments within the city. 

Brisbane million-dollar suburbs 

Part of the appeal of the Brisbane property market is that it is more affordable than other capital cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Canberra, which are currently going through an “affordability crisis.”

Source: CoreLogic

For example, over half of the houses sold in Sydney this year sold for over $1 million, a likely result of the four-fold increase in million-dollar-plus homes in Sydney since 2011.

 There are 340 house markets and 79 unit markets in Sydney with a current median value above $1 million as of May 2021, reflecting a 25.4% increase over the number of million-dollar suburbs in 2020.

Brisbane, by comparison, has just 51 suburbs that have a median house value of at least $1 million. That being said, Greater Brisbane is still seeing a rise in the number of suburbs with million-dollar properties, with 22 of the 51 suburbs having just entered the “million-dollar club” over the past twelve months.

 Moreover, according to the Urban Developer, searches for homes at the $1 million price point in Brisbane have increased by 30% over the past three years alone, suggesting that perhaps Brisbane is attracting a wealthier audience as of late.

Number of suburbs with a median value above $1 million. Source: CoreLogic

Brisbane’s most expensive suburb to purchase a house is currently Teneriffe, with a median value of $2,063,937. Teneriffe was followed by Hamilton, Ascot, Chandler and Lucia, which each broke the $1.5 million median value mark. 

Source: CoreLogic

Affordable Suburbs In The Brisbane CBD Property Market

For those who aren’t looking for a million-dollar spend in Brisbane, but rather, want to find a lower-priced house nearby the city centre, you’ll want to look toward suburbs like Keperra, Salisbury, and Tingalpa. 

Source: Domain

Keperra is just 3 kilometres away from Brisbane’s CBD, and you can scoop up a house there for roughly $565,650. Tingalpa, by comparison, is further from the CBD with slightly more expensive houses. However, the year-on-year growth for properties in Tingalpa is 14%, far outstripping Keperra’s 5.1%. 

All three of these suburbs are situated within 10km of Brisbane’s CBD, and their median house values sit below the median value of houses in Brisbane.

Discover how to find and secure properties at up to 40% below market value

Brisbane Apartment Market 2021

Units haven’t enjoyed the same rise in values as houses have in Brisbane, with Apartment Prices in Brisbane only rising 5% since the beginning of COVID-19 compared with Brisbane houses which rose 15.5%. 

Though this trend isn’t limited to Brisbane, but rather all capital cities. Over the June quarter, the biggest gap between median house and unit values across all capital cities was seen in fifteen years. In Brisbane over this period, house values rose 2.2%, and units rose just 0.7%. 

Source: CoreLogic

Many have attributed the slower growth of Brisbane’s apartment market in 2021 to be attributed to an oversupply of apartments in Brisbane. That being said, the Brisbane apartment market has still enjoyed some modest gains. As of July, the median Apartment Price in Brisbane was $419,000, up by $4000 from a month prior.

Brisbane Rental Property Market News

The Brisbane rental market is looking primed for growth thanks to low vacancy rates and increased migration into Queensland. 

According to REIQ’s CEO, Antonia Mercorella, “Record-low interest rates, government support and stimulus measures, and the pandemic-driven stampede we’ve witnessed migrating beyond our southern borders have sent Brisbane’s private rental market into uncharted territory, pushing vacancy rates down to their lowest levels since October 2012.”

Source: Urban Developer

Ray White principal David Treloar also said that “this demand [for Brisbane rental property] is across the board …  and I feel that it will just fuel more investors.” 

“And the one thing we didn’t have 12 months ago is investing in units for rentals … but now we do and that’s good news for renters. And without question, we’ll have a larger share of international tourists and expats this time, because Brisbane has more freedom. It’s going to become more of a destination now. and there’s still so much value here in rentals and sales,” said Treloar.

Because of the reduced necessity to live near a CBD such as Melbourne or Sydney for work, Brisbane is attracting many new residents that are renting before they buy, says Harcourts’ Property Centre head of client investment, Dimitri Loukaras.

“Number one there’s your interstate [tenant], in the sense that they are looking to move here permanently and buy but they don’t know Brisbane well enough yet. So, they want to rent in an area first before they buy.” 

“And then – more than ever in the past year – are the sellers who sold their house or unit for a premium then realised they can’t buy anything.

“And a lot of these tenants have never rented before … so, they don’t have rental history and a strategy they are using is to offer over the rental amount or pay for six months upfront.

Vacancy Rate In Brisbane Property Market 

Vacancy rates can be a useful metric to analyse when investing in a property market, as an area with low vacancy rates likely signals an undersupply of housing. This, in turn, may suggest that an area with low vacancy rates is a desirable area to live.

Source: SQM Research

The good news for Brisbane property investors is that, in the first quarter of 2021, 78.9% of Queensland’s rental markets either maintained their vacancy rate or saw their vacancy rate decline. According to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ):

 “70.2% of the [vacancy rates in Brisbane suburbs remained] under 1.0%, with the biggest pinch recorded in Brisbane’s inner city, with rates dropping 0.5% over the quarter.”

The same report find that the suburbs with the lowest vacancy rate in Brisbane are:

• Anstead – 0.5%
• Birkdale – 0.3%
• Capalaba – 0.2%
• Ferny Hill – 0.3%
• Gumdale – 0.4%
• Manly West – 0.5%
• Rothwell – 0.2%
• Sandgate – 0.5%
• Shailer Park – 0.4%
• Thornside – 0.3%
• Wakerley – 0.4%

These low vacancy rates, combined with high demand for renting in Brisbane, have helped to drive Rental Growth in Brisbane, pushing median house rent prices up by 12.5% over the year to $476 a week, an all-time high. 

Rental Yields In Brisbane

According to Domain, increases to gross rental yields have been larger for houses in Brisbane than units, albeit only slightly. Rental yields for Brisbane houses increased 1.5% over the quarter to 4.58%, and units rose 1.2% to 5.23.

A new report from Place Advisory found that Darra, in Brisbane’s west, provides the best rental yield in Brisbane relative to its median house price of $350,500, which generated an average weekly rent of $335.

Below is a list of some high rental yield suburbs in Brisbane in which a 3-bedroom house can yield the highest rental returns. 

Suburb	Median House price	Median Weekly Rental yield	Rental yield as a percentage
Darra	$350,500	$335	5%
Forest Lake	$382,000	$365	5%
Kuraby	$370,000	$355	5%
Durack	$365,000	$330	4.7%
Acacia Ridge	$395,000	$360	4.7%

Source: Realestate.com.au

Brisbane Rent Prices

Over the past financial year (20-21), Brisbane rent prices increased by 7.3%, bringing the median rent price in Brisbane to $476. 

These increases in rent prices were concentrated predominantly in south-east Queensland, which rose 15.4% over the 2020-21 financial year, compared with the 6.6% increase seen across the country.

As of July, The average rent price in Brisbane for a house was $515 per week, which reflected an increase of 3.2% over the prior month. The average rent price in Brisbane for an apartment was $393 per week, reflecting an increase of 0.8% over the prior month. 

However, CoreLogic’s head of research, Eliza Owen, predicts that these rental increases may slow in future as wage growth across Australia remains stagnant. 

“The annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent marked the strongest annual uplift in over a decade.”

“As with house prices, rent prices are seeing a deceleration in growth at the national level and across each of the capital cities, which may reflect affordability constraints, but there could also be higher levels of rental supply as investor activity in the market increases,” Owen said.

“Very high rental growth is unsustainable while income growth remains subdued.

“The result will likely be more subdued growth rates in the coming quarters, especially as investor participation trends higher, delivering more rental supply.”

Property Investment Advice For Brisbane

Choosing where to invest in Brisbane is much the same as investing anywhere else in Australia.  For starters, you’ll want to look at the underlying fundamentals of the Brisbane property market, as well as the latest Brisbane property market news. 

For example, Brisbane hosting the 2032 Olympics will help to accelerate Brisbane’s infrastructure growth, tourism and even population growth, all of which will yield positive results for the long-term outlook of Brisbane’s property market. 

Over the shorter term, increased domestic migration to Queensland during COVID-19 is helping to drive property values, rental prices and rental yields up. 

Depending on which type of property investor you are, and what kind of timeframe you’re working with, you will want to stay on top of the latest news and all the indicators surrounding the market you are considering investing into. Indicators such as population growth, vacancy rates, rental yields and much more can all inform investors about how a particular region will perform in future.

You can read our full article on how to find great property deals in this booming Brisbane market to learn about the rest of the indicators that will guide you toward high-growth suburbs. 

Additionally, it can be helpful to find a suitable property investment advisor that can give you a tailored approach to property investment. They may help you build your dream portfolio of property, teach you ways to minimise your taxes through property, or how to maximise your wealth through property. 

These are all things that a property investment advisor may be able to assist you with more thoroughly than if you were to simply look on your own.

Can you still buy properties at a discount? 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it a good time to buy in Brisbane?

There are many positive indicators ahead for Brisbane’s property market, with the increase in domestic migration fuelling property market growth in the short term, and the 2032 Olympics hinting at continued growth in the Brisbane property market over the longer term.

Moreover, once international travel resumes, Brisbane will yet again see an increase in population which will help to fuel demand within its property market.

Of course, it is impossible to tell what the future brings, however, if you had invested roughly $150K in Brisbane’s property market in the 1990’s, that money would have been worth fourfold today.

Will the Brisbane Property Market Crash?

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts predicted that Australia’s property market could drop by as much as 20 percent due to a rapid rise in unemployment and a decrease in spending and consumer confidence.

However, as we now know, the very opposite has occurred. Many are in fact attributing the drastic rise in Australia’s housing market to COVID-19, rather than occurring in spite of it.

The unexpected benefits of COVID-19 to Australia’s property market also couldn’t be more true than in Brisbane, where the bulk of domestic migrants flooded during the pandemic – helping to drive up Brisbane’s property prices.

Combine this with a litany of positive predictions surrounding Brisbane’s property market, and Brisbane’s recent win of the 2032 Olympic bid, and you’ve got a recipe for the continued growth of the Brisbane property market.

Ultimately, it doesn’t look like there will be a Brisbane Property Market crash any time soon.

Where to buy an investment property in Brisbane?

Where you purchase an investment property in Brisbane will ultimately depend on what type of investment you’re hoping to make.

If you want to generate high rental yields, perhaps as a source of passive income, Darra or Forest Lake will provide some of the highest rental yields for a Brisbane house.

If you’re looking to sell your property in a number of years, New Farm and Tenerife have demonstrated tremendous property value growth in recent years due to an uptick in demand.

Where you invest in Brisbane’s property market will depend upon what kind of investment you wish to make.

Is Brisbane a good city to invest in property?

The Brisbane property market has a lot going for it. Unlike Sydney and the ACT which face issues of affordability, Brisbane’s properties are much more modestly priced and are therefore more accessible to a wider audience.

Moreover, with tight vacancy rates and relatively high population growth, the Brisbane property market has a lot of positive indicators suggesting continued growth in the future.