HOUSE values in some of Queensland’s cheapest suburbs have doubled in as little as two years, with buyers chasing affordable housing options putting pressure on once quiet neighbourhoods.
Exclusive new data from PropTrack shows that buyers can expect an average house on Lamb Island, which had a median house price of just $177,500 in 2020, to cost them $356,000 now, with it taking just 34 months for the house value to double.
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52 Melaleuca Drive, Lamb Island, sold for $775,000 in September 2021
T Barclay Real Estate Bay Islands agent Kat Gawlik said the demographic was changing.
“Covid happened,” she said. “And I am finding that people are looking here because we are still affordable and close to the mainland.
“They are coming here to get rid of big mortgages, debt and stress.
“But parking (on the mainland) is still an issue as it is not really coping with the influx of people moving to the islands.
“There is a plan for that but the population is moving faster than the infrastructure.”
49 Tina Ave, Lamb Island is listed for $720,000
It is a similar story in Upper Caboolture, where the median house price there has doubled in just 49 months to reach $822,500, up from $411,250 in June 2019.
Richardson & Wrench Caboolture principal Scott Lachmund, who has 29 years in the real estate game, said the area had shed its stigma over time.
“There is a whole new demographic coming into the area, with small acreage attracting families and downsizers from bigger blocks out west and to the north,” he said.
“It is no secret that house prices have increased. Where an average three-bedroom house might have cost $350,000 a few years ago, now its more like $600,000.
“No one really could have projected that we would grow so fast.
“The roads are choked up, and that’s a concern. We aren’t keeping up in terms of the infrastructure needed.”
63-65 Mackney Road, Upper Caboolture, sold for $968,000 in May
The data shows that house values in Proston (Wide Bay) and Collinsville (Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday) doubled the fastest at just 20 months, rising to $235,000 and $160,000 respectively by the end of May this year.
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24 Garrick Street, Collinsville, was bought by investors for $192,000 in March – $72,000 more than the vendor paid in 2013. It is now listed for rent for $450 a week
Elsewhere, house values in Nikenbah, Bucca, Monto, Tiaro and Coral Cove in the Wide Bay region and Barney Point (Central Queensland) doubled within three years.
It took four years for house values to double in Seven Hills and Belli Park.
Belli Park homeowners also reaped the biggest rewards, with median values there up 111 per cent to $1.3 million in just 43 months.
This beautiful farm at Belli Park recently sold for $2m
Willowbank and Toorbul homeowners have seen their suburbs median house price double in five years, while it took six years in Brightview and seven years in Chandler, Chambers Flat, Woodford and Corinda.
But Toorbul & District Realty agent Leanne Cody said prices had slowed.
“Anything on the water is still getting good prices but buyers are more savvy now because of rising interest rates and reduced borrowing capacities,” she said.
“The demographic has changed a lot. It used to be mostly retirees but we have more young families moving in, chasing lifestyle and opportunities.
“You definitely notice the increased traffic. Where you might have seen one car a few years ago, you have 10 lined up now.”
This acreage property at Toorbul sold for $1.44m.
Meanwhile, unit owners in Mount Lofty (Toowoomba) saw their median values soar the fastest, rising from $250,000 to $500,000 in just 24 months.
It was followed by Tin Can Bay and Noosa Heads, where values doubled in less than three years.
Brisbane’s fastest growing unit market was Geebung, where values increased from $288,193 in September 2018 to $597,500 now, doubling within five years.
PropTrack’s director of economic research Cameron Kusher said nationally, prices had increased by about 32 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic, and in certain areas, increases had been much greater than that.
“It doesn’t take a lot of demand in some of these smaller areas or a lot more buyers to really push prices up significantly, and that’s what we saw,” he said.
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WHERE HOUSE VALUES DOUBLED THE FASTEST
Suburb/median price before/median price now/years to double
Proston $117,500 $235,000 2
Collinsville $80,000 $160,000 2
Lamb Island $177,500 $356,000 3
Nikenbah $424,000 $850,000 3
Bucca $290,000 $582,500 3
Barney Point $138,500 $277,000 3
Monto $90,000 $180,000 3
Boyland $697,500 $1,400,000 3
Tiaro $192,500 $390,000 3
Coral Cove $355,000 $710,000 3
Upper Caboolture $411,250 $822,500 4
Seven Hills $790,000 $1,582,000 4
Belli Park $615,000 $1,300,000 4
Willowbank $380,000 $765,000 5
Toorbul $330,000 $660,000 5
Brightview $260,000 $520,000 6
Chandler $1,265,500 $2,550,000 7
Corinda $625,000 $1,257,650 7
Woodford $361,000 $722,500 7
Chambers Flat $585,000 $1,180,000 7
WHERE UNIT VALUES DOUBLED THE FASTEST
Suburb/median price before/median price now/years to double
Mount Lofty $250,000 $500,000 2
Tin Can Bay $292,500 $605,000 3
Noosa Heads $941,000 $1,885,000 3
Peregian Beach $540,000 $1,090,000 4
West Gladstone $107,500 $215,000 4
Geebung $288,193 $597,500 5
Mount Pleasant $226,500 $475,000 5
Sunshine Beach $710,000 $1,425,000 5
Yandina $210,000 $430,000 5
Noosaville $470,000 $940,000 5
Woodgate $195,000 $395,000 5
Beachmere $225,000 $465,000 7
Algester $295,000 $590,000 9
Tennyson $800,000 $1,600,000 10
Manly $347,500 $695,750 11
Bellara $227,000 $455,000 11
Margate $307,500 $615,000 11
Kenmore $430,000 $866,500 14
Bethania $191,000 $385,000 14
Grange $413,000 $830,000 14
(Source: PropTrack)