In this highly anticipated monthly update, Scott and Melinda unpack the real-time insights shaping Brisbane’s property market. From surging buyer demand and FOMO in key price segments, to legislative shifts like the early roll-out of the expanded Home Guarantee Scheme, they break down what’s influencing dwelling values across Brisbane, and what buyers need to know to stay competitive.
With dwelling values rising 1.2% in August alone, this episode helps investors and home buyers alike understand how to navigate price growth, limited stock, and shifting affordability. Whether you’re an active buyer, a first-home hopeful, or a strategic investor, you’ll walk away informed and ready for what’s ahead in the Brisbane property landscape.
Tune in for:
- Data-backed analysis from local experts
- Market segments seeing the most pressure
- Tips for staying ahead in a fast-moving market
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Transcript
0:02: Hi everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Brisbane Property podcast with Scott and Melinda Jennison.
0:07: And it’s market update time for August.
0:10: Don’t we love market update time?
0:12: yes, this is the time, the most popular episode of the month where we run through what is actually happening here in Brisbane, why Brisbane is unique, what we’re seeing on the ground, and most importantly, what is the data telling us and, and what can we expect in the months ahead.
0:26: So, get prepared.
0:28: Brisbane is, is on fire, actually.
0:30: Yeah, we actually, for our, for our listeners in our office.
0:33: , when all this information comes out, we, we throw it around to the whole office for everyone to, Have their say or have their estimate on where they think the market sits.
0:44: interesting, the month of August, Brisbane dwelling values up 1.2%. That’s right.
0:49: And I think that this didn’t come as much of a surprise to the streamlined property buyers team, and that is simply because we’ve been seeing this on the ground.
0:58: The sentiment has been heating up.
1:00: That means we have gradually been seeing more and more buyers come into the market, but more so than that, the buyers, fear of missing out has been escalating in the last couple of months.
1:12: And, and it’s not in all segments of the market, but it’s definitely in the more affordable segment of the market.
1:17: And in fact, I’d argue anything up to around that 1.5 $1.6 million dollar price bracket really is being, competitively fought, over.
1:27: And, and I would say anything in the more premium segment of the market, generally speaking, has, Has fewer buyers and it’s a little bit slower to transact.
1:37: So we’re definitely seeing shifts depending on which market segment we are in, but also the product type that we’re looking at.
1:44: And of course, that is the value that locally based on the ground buyers agents can provide in ensuring that, whatever it is that you’re looking.
1:53: To buy, you understand what is the level of competition, who are your competitors and what does that mean for you as a property buyer?
2:01: Yeah, I think it’s also when we talk about and we’ll get into a little bit later, obviously with some schemes and cash rates and all those types of things which it has an effect on the market, but for for people to really understand when we talk about dwellings, for example, and if you put the pace of the market.
2:18: , in a dollar figure, and let’s say a million dollar purchase in the last month that 1.2%, that’s 12,000 dollars.
2:26: That’s a lot of money.
2:27: And, and weekly, that’s $3000 of price movement every single week.
2:33: And it is an interesting thing to focus on because if you’ve been looking for the right property for 3 months, and then you decide that, you’re not willing to stretch that extra $5000 in fact, that’s now a week and a half of growth.
2:47: Given this market, a segment.
2:50: So we’re absolutely not suggesting that anyone should be overpaying in this market, but this is, this is about understanding how quickly the market is moving and understanding the opportunity cost of not actually getting into the market, especially if it is a home in some of these more competitive segments of the market.
3:08: And of course, helping you understand this price shift, but also where the objective value sits for any.
3:15: That does become available for sale is so important, and I think that’s one of the biggest frustrations for buyers right now in the market.
3:22: They simply don’t understand where does the, the, value in a home actually sit.
3:27: Now, we are not professional valuers, but we are able to very accurately appraise the objective value of a property to help buyers make an informed decision about what they’re prepared to pay.
3:38: And sometimes that may be more or less the where we actually find that objective value to sit.
3:43: So Brisbane.
3:44: And obviously a top performer, in the capital cities, a couple of things which we’ll probably see come into play and, and put in probably some, some policies, which will probably put a bit more demand in the coming months.
3:57: So, obviously there’s the, from the 1st of October 2025, the expanded home guarantee scheme.
4:03: This is a huge, change in policy that does impact, especially here in Brisbane, it impacts on the demand.
4:12: stimulus in the market.
4:14: Now, let me just explain what this, policy does.
4:19: Basically, in Brisbane, any properties up to the value of $1 million become applicable to this change.
4:28: for first home buyers, there are no income caps.
4:32: there’s unlimited places, and that means that with just 5% deposit and no lenders more.
4:41: Insurance, first home buyers can actually purchase with, just a $50,000 down payment.
4:47: Now, of course, there’s going to be additional, purchasing costs on top of that, including stamp duty and transfers and building and pest fees, conveyancing, and or a buyer’s agent fee.
4:57: But this is a significant shift because remember, for most buyers in the market, historically, the deposit is the hurdle and most buyers require a 20% deposit.
5:09: To avoid that lender’s mortgage insurance or that LMI insurance.
5:12: So this is a big policy shift.
5:14: It wasn’t, due to actually come into effect until the 1st of January.
5:19: They’ve brought that forward.
5:20: And so what that means is the demand shifts forward.
5:23: And all of a sudden, first home buyer incentives will be increasing from a cutoff of $700,000.
5:29: All of a sudden, first home buyers are going to be looking to, that $1 million price point for a change in the, the, the.
5:37: Incentives that are available to them.
5:39: So big legislative change, and we will see more demand come into the market in that sub $1 million price bracket because of it.
5:45: And, and what we’ve seen in that, say, under, say, $750 in the last, I was gonna say 6 months or so, probably even a little bit longer, we’ve seen a lot of a lot of demand.
5:57: That has been so competitive, that market.
6:00: Now this, and I know you just said a little while ago, Linda, that that the sub 150 mark, sub 1.5 mark, now this pushing up to 1 mil, that sector of the market, and we will get onto segments of the market in in the in the market update today as well, that’ll put more pressure and demand on that section of the market as well.
6:22: This is at a time where supply is very limited, and we’re going to talk, shortly about the, the number of properties that are available for sale in terms of listing volumes.
6:31: So, big policy changes like this can influence markets by, you know, creating more demand, and that is definitely what this policy is likely to do.
6:40: And obviously, in August, we saw a cash rate, A cut in the cash rate as well.
6:45: That’s right.
6:46: So the official cash rate, now is 3.6%., now, of course, every time the, RBA lowers interest rates, it improves the borrowing capacity for people that are looking to purchase.
7:00: But even more so than that, it actually has a positive effect on consumer sentiment.
7:05: It also reduces the holding costs for those that are already in the market with mortgages on their properties.
7:12: So,, it does actually create an overall positive effect on the demand side once again, and it’s something that we need to be mindful of, again, simply because we’ve got a very low supply environment here in Brisbane.
7:27: Another one which I’ll throw this as a positive, is construction.
7:32: now, obviously keep in mind the, It, it, we’re not seeing it happen just at the moment, but if you put it as a positive, construction on paper, is obviously is is a positive thing.
7:43: CoreLogic, Cordell data indicates 1.5 billion in Queensland projects in the pipeline, 700 million earmarked for new residential, and 321 million of residential projects commencing in July.
7:57: Yes.
7:58: The big, concern with this, and that, as I said, it does look good on paper, the fact that we are actually seeing an increase in the number of projects that are now commencing construction.
8:10: However, the volume of the supply is not necessarily being delivered in the locations where we need it most.
8:17: And just to give some context around that, when we’re out on the, the, the Ground on, on Saturdays at inspections.
8:24: There’s certain pockets in Brisbane for certain product types where we are lining up down the road just to get through an open home.
8:31: Now, that tells me that there’s more product of that type required to satisfy the demand in that market.
8:37: Now, let me be clear, these are not the locations where they are building similar product types.
8:42: The locations that they’re building, for example, higher.
8:46: Developments or new infill development, that is land subdivision, it’s not necessarily where the current demand is needing it most.
8:55: And this is the, I guess, the complexity around delivering new housing.
9:00: It’s, it’s the inability for the developers and government to place this housing in locations where consumers or buyers want it most.
9:09: And, and that’s the mismatch.
9:10: Between what’s actually being constructed and, and what’s actually being needed or required on the ground.
9:17: And, and I think that’s the concern that we need to remain focused on, because until we actually get the supply in the right places for the right price, we’re going to continue to see that escalation in existing dwellings, that’s units and houses, in the locations where more supply is needed.
9:32: And and I think there’ll be a time.
9:34: That it will take to actually catch up as well, so yes, this is on paper, we also need the trades.
9:40: Now we actually attended a breakfast this morning with the treasurer of the Queensland treasurer, and and in that breakfast he was talking to us about, You know, the, boosting TAFE and the encouraging people to get involved to, to get back in upskill into those trades and that sort of employment sector, so less universities and we and we definitely need the trades to get involved to increase that sort of, Employment area, and that will help the construction side as well.
10:08: So, hopefully, yes, so it’s not, it’s not a quick fix, but with some of the construction on paper and obviously boosting the employment and the TAFE side of things, hopefully we do see that improvement here in Queensland as well.
10:20: That’s right.
10:20: And, you know, I think that the important thing to note is, you know, right now, there is still a gap between, you know, The limited stock that is being delivered as new housing and, and where that is needed.
10:31: So, for anyone that is looking to buy, it is important to understand where that new stock is coming, because obviously, new supply can also, mean that, that there’s a softening or a, a slowdown in the growth of prices, and that’s great if you’re looking to buy a home.
10:47: In those areas, because obviously, it maintains a more, I guess, stable level of affordability.
10:54: but obviously, there’s some locations where the, the pressure on prices will continue to be upward because they’re not building any more supply, despite the need and the demand in those markets, and they’re the markets that will continue to increase in value.
11:09: Nationally, obviously houses, outpaced units this year, but as we’ve talked about as well, it’s a different story in Brisbane.
11:16: , a completely different market here with that, that unit market.
11:20: we actually had a family discussion the other night with our boys, about this, and we’re talking all about units and why and the demand and how they’re not building them, the cost to build them, etc.
11:30: I could go on and on and on about that for a while, like we did the other night with the boys, but they, they understood, they got, they got the picture.
11:36: and the unit market still leads the way here in Brisbane.
11:39: It certainly does.
11:41: in terms of auction.
11:43: Clearance rates, between August and July.
11:46: They were fairly similar, so not a lot of change there in the clearance rate, but still sitting, elevated compared to 12 months ago.
11:54: So more activity in the auction market.
11:56: Now, we have talked a lot previously on the podcast about the fact that, you know, auction clearance rates are not always an indication of how the strength in a market, because there’s a buyer and a seller.
12:05: Have to agree on price when it comes to an auction actually, selling under those auction conditions.
12:11: And we have seen more recently that the seller’s expectations might have been ahead of what buyers are prepared to pay, even though there may be multiple registered bidders at an auction.
12:20: So, still plenty of demand and plenty of registered bidders in auctions here in Brisbane, and those clearance rates holding fairly Steady month on month.
12:30: I will say, though, that when we’re looking at median days on market, that’s how long does it take for a property to actually sell.
12:37: Those figures are showing that there’s a declining trend month on month.
12:41: So between July and August, we saw the days on markets reduce, and that means that properties are selling faster.
12:47: Now, general days on market have reduced from 25 days in July to 23 days in August.
12:54: But I can absolutely, guarantee you that if you are shopping in some segments of the market, for example, blue chip unit locations, days on market is reducing to a number of, days such as I would say, yeah, 3 or 4 days, and, and that’s often dependent as to on whether the selling.
13:12: has the form to sell a disclosure already in place or not.
13:16: If they do, properties can sell very, very quickly, after the very first open home.
13:21: So buyers must be ready for that if you are in that segment of the market where demand is elevated and heightened because days on market can be very quick in those segments.
13:31: It’s probably an area for our listeners to understand.
13:33: That’s probably something we’ve noticed here, locally in Brisbane is the seller disclosure that it has come into play.
13:39: It has slightly, in some instances, I’m not saying everywhere, because as you, as you just said, if they have that all completed and ready to go, they will sell really fast.
13:47: We’ve probably seen some areas a little bit slower, and they haven’t been prepared, the agents haven’t had that or the sellers haven’t had all that.
13:55: Information to give to the buyers, that’s probably an area we have seen slow a little bit, which is actually quite good, to be honest.
14:03: It gives us a little bit more time, listing numbers.
14:06: Yeah, look, tight listings remain the the story for Brisbane.
14:10: , if we look at the SQM research, listings data, this is the total number of properties that are listed for sale online.
14:20: In August, there was 16,106 properties in total that buyers could choose from.
14:25: in July, this was 15,659.
14:28: So a slight overall increase month on month.
14:30: But the real concern is how this differs to our 10-year average.
14:36: So, So historically, Brisbane sits between 28,000 and 30,000 long term.
14:42: That is the total number of properties available for sale.
14:45: So we are, just a little over half of the, the number of properties that are currently available for sale at a time where demand is heightened.
14:54: Now, I will say right now, in 2025, compared to 12 months ago, we’re also 11.6% lower.
15:01: So Supply is actually getting tighter, right now compared to our long-term average.
15:06: And this is the big concern for buyers in our city.
15:09: They are really struggling to find opportunities to buy.
15:12: Anything that’s in this listing data does not include off-market.
15:16: OK, these are properties that are publicly listed for sale.
15:19: And yes, we are seeing some opportunities sell pre-market or off-market, so they don’t become part of these numbers.
15:25: However, this is still alarming.
15:27: So dwelling values and we’ll go, as we said, we always, I always mention this, Greater Brisbane, dwellings we’ll break it up into houses and units in a second.
15:36: , but Brisbane median dwelling values, went to 949,583 in August, up 1.2% month on month, 3% in the quarter, and 7.9% year on year.
15:50: So, according to all other capital city markets, Brisbane leads the pace of growth throughout the month of August at 1.2%. So this is alarming, of course, especially given that Brisbane’s always been in the top three.
16:03: , in terms of price growth month on month for, for at least the last 12 to 18 months.
16:09: So this trend is continuing, and in fact, our, our growth is starting to re-accelerate, and that’s not a surprise to us, given what we’ve been experiencing on the ground.
16:18: Just, just while you’re on that, I’ll just run through it quickly.
16:20: I know we don’t normally jump through every, capital, but Brisbane, 1.2%. Hopefully we get these all in the right order here.
16:28: so Brisbane 1.2%, Perth 1.1%, Darwin 1%.
16:33: Adelaide 0.9%, Sydney 0.8%, Canberra 0.4%., Melbourne at 0.3%. And Hobart negative 0.2%. That’s right.
16:50: Hobart is the only capital city market to experience negative growth over the month of August 2025.
16:57: Now, of course, we always like to break down the dwelling values growth into segments.
17:02: OK?
17:02: We’re going to talk about which segments of the market.
17:04: are, are growing at a faster rate than others.
17:07: Now, right now in Brisbane, and this is Greater Brisbane, and it is all dwellings, and we’ve talked about this in previous podcast episodes, the lower 25% of property values, dwelling values as a whole, are growing at the fastest rate.
17:20: So in the 3 months to the end of July, The lowest 25% of properties that transacted grew at 3%, across that quarter, whereas the most expensive segment of the market grew at 2%, with the middle 50% of properties transacting growing 2.4%. So there’s definitely a relationship between, a lower price point and a higher rate of growth here in Brisbane.
17:44: This is for all dwellings, so we do know because that unit market has been outperforming the house market, a lot of the The unit transactions are falling in the more affordable end of the market.
17:54: So it’s so critical that buyers understand that this can skew the overall trend.
17:59: It doesn’t necessarily mean that the cheapest houses are growing at the fastest rate.
18:03: It means that the, the cheapest dwellings, a combination of houses and units are growing at the fastest rate.
18:09: And and I think that’s for the higher, that top section, that’s actually still pretty good growth really good growth.
18:16: I can’t see that changing a lot next month.
18:18: To be honest, I’ll throw that out there with, obviously everything we talked about with that million dollars, the home guarantee scheme and all those things coming into play shortly.
18:26: I think that will continue to trend sort of that way, but again, we’ll report on that next month.
18:31: Absolutely.
18:32: house values, so house values rose 1.2% in August, 2.9% over the quarter, and 7.3% annually.
18:41: So the median house value for Greater Brisbane is 140.
18:46: $651.
18:48: That’s right.
18:48: And so in the housing segment of the market, Brisbane is also the fastest growing capital city market compared to all others, and it had the greatest rate of growth across the month.
19:01: So, you know, really hard for people trying to get into the market when it is shifting at such a, a strong rate of growth month on month.
19:07: , but it is important for those that may be looking to buy in Brisbane who are not here on the ground to understand that this is the reality, and we do need to factor this in when we are considering opportunities.
19:18: And if things have sold 3 months ago, we should be looking at those quarterly growth rates here of, between 2.9% and 3% to factor in the, the price that they would transact for today, to Help us understand today’s values.
19:31: So that’s, another tip if you’re a buyer in the market and you’re looking at some of the recent sales that may have occurred 2 or 3 months ago, we need to factor in how has the market shifted since those properties have transacted to come to today’s value.
19:43: And units, we jump on there, as we’ve talked about, units outperforming houses, only just slightly, in last month, so.
19:51: Unit values rose 1.3% in August, 3.9% over the quarter, and 11.1% annually, lifting the median unit value in Brisbane to $740,992.
20:04: And isn’t that a strong number compared to where we were just three or four years ago, where most units in Brisbane were transacting probably under the, the $500,000 price point.
20:14: Now, the median value is at $740,000.
20:16: So buyers that got into the The unit market, you know, 3 years ago have really seen extraordinary growth here in Brisbane.
20:23: And because of a lot of our character protection, with our Queenslander homes and because of the limited zoning for a lot of units in some parts of the city, we’re going to continue to see that price pressure because we cannot build more units despite the fact that they are in high demand in some pockets.
20:39: And this is critical for buyers to understand, especially if it, it’s someone that’s looking for, Capital growth as a property investor, for example.
20:47: But Brisbane does remain very strong in terms of unit growth, and it is outperforming, all of those other capital city markets.
20:54: So both houses and units outperformed everywhere around Australia as well.
20:59: rental market, again, very, very tight vacancy rates held at 0.9%, unchanged from last month.
21:06: And look, it, it’s really hard for sellers at the moment.
21:10: we talk about the fact that there’s low.
21:11: , listing volumes.
21:13: Well, there’s also, a very real reason as to why sellers are not selling, and that is, most sellers need to sell before they buy.
21:21: It’s very hard and expensive to get bridging loan finance, and very few sellers can buy without first selling.
21:28: so unless there’s the unique opportunity to have a simultaneous settlement, which requires a, a fairly coherent sort of juggling act.
21:36: , sellers are just holding firm because there’s also nothing to rent.
21:40: And typically people would sell, rent, and then scour the market for something new to buy.
21:46: But because the rental market is so tight, it really is clogging up that whole system, and, and sellers are finding it difficult, to actually let go of their existing homes, especially if they’ve got nowhere else to go,.
21:58: Accelerating again.
21:59: And that’s the hard thing for tenants, obviously, that are in the market.
22:03: We know that there’s cost of living pressures, out there, and yet rents are also on the increase again.
22:10: So, we saw rents up, 5% annually in the house market.
22:15: That’s a jump from last month, where we saw house rents increase 4.3%., and in the unit market, rents are up 6.2% annually, and again, that’s a jump from last month when rents were up 5.6%. So we’re seeing a re-acceleration in this segment of the market, yet again.
22:32: , not easy for tenants that are obviously trying to get stability in terms of their, their housing costs.
22:40: but if we turn it around and, and have a look at that from an investor’s perspective, there’s definitely, you know, an increase in the income that they are generating from holding the asset.
22:51: And so gross yields then remain steady.
22:53: So 3.4% for houses and 4.4% for units.
22:58: That’s right, and, and that’s a function of, you know, rental price growth, keeping up with house and unit price growth at the moment.
23:05: So a bit of a summary, very busy.
23:09: Look, it is busy and you know, I think that it’s, it’s not a surprise for anyone to hear that we do expect prices to continue to grow in the months ahead.
23:19: And the reasons for that are fairly clear.
23:21: One, we don’t have enough properties available for sale at a time where demand is heightened.
23:26: Secondly, we’ve got interest rates that are falling, giving consumers more confidence.
23:30: Giving borrowers more borrowing capacity, and just generally improving sentiment in the market.
23:36: We’ve also got those political changes, those, those changes in first home buyer incentives, the first home buyer guarantee scheme coming into effect.
23:45: That’s going to bring forward demand, for buyers in that sub $1 million price point.
23:50: All of these things contributing.
23:53: , to, to, you know, either the supply side metrics, which are too tight, or the demand side metrics, which are just too strong, of course, we’re going to continue to see price pressure.
24:05: You know, I’ve said it before on the podcast, and I’ll say it again.
24:07: There’s only so far that some suburbs can go before they become at-risk suburbs.
24:14: And we are seeing in Brisbane, some locations being propped up by interstate investors, where, for those investors, it might be an affordable place to be purchasing into, but for the local demographic, it’s actually very unaffordable, and local home buyers can no longer afford to buy into that market.
24:30: And more importantly, rents are actually at the border of affordability in those locations.
24:36: So if there’s ever a big economic impact and investors are selling out, you know, it’s likely we could see some downward pressure in prices as locals just can’t afford to, to purchase the properties, at the price that investors might have paid for them.
24:49: So, you know, that’s letting the a big sort of Can of worms out there, but, it is important for, for property investors to understand that local demographic so they don’t expose themselves to risk in the event of, unforeseen economic circumstances.
25:02: Yeah, I think it’s really that supply and demand and the demand what we’re seeing, especially where we, where we work day in and day out, that demand is huge, that will just keep pressure on prices, obviously.
25:14: , we’re seeing multiple offers on properties.
25:17: It’s not uncommon to be 5 to 15, and I did say 15.
25:21: That’s crazy, but it is the truth, 5 to 15 people putting an offer in on properties, and 15 registered bidders at auction.
25:29: We’ve seen 10 to 15 registered bidders at at single auctions in the last month as well, so.
25:35: And only one person can buy that property.
25:37: So all those others are still back on RealEstate.com and shopping.
25:41: so I think the pressure on that, I think that will keep a lot of pressure on things.
25:46: look, Brisbane obviously is, is still appealing for a lot of people.
25:51: we’ve still got people wanting to live up here.
25:52: Why wouldn’t you?
25:53: Look at the beautiful blue skies we get in these, those beautiful spring days.
25:57: and then both the Broncos and the Lions are in finals, and so people are pretty happy here in Brissy.
26:02: , especially if you’ve got property.
26:05: if you haven’t, you should reach out to streamline property buyers and we can always have a chat to help.
26:09: So look, I, I think it’s a, it’s a healthy market, put it that way.
26:12: We’ve, we’ve seen this continue to grow and grow here on the ground, and prices continue to, to move, upwards.
26:22: I, it’s a really healthy market, and I think there’s still great opportunity and and a lot of legs left in it actually, to be honest, so to get into the market, so.
26:31: Watch this space, I think we’ll see next month, we’ll see similar growth, but, again, until that happens, we won’t report on that until it actually happens next month, so.
26:40: Hopefully that’s been a good update for everyone.
26:43: as usual, I will let Melinda wrap things up and until next week, thank you very much for listening.
26:48: Take care and bye for now.
26:49: Thank you once again for tuning into the Brisbane Property Podcast.
26:52: We hope you have enjoyed this market update episode, and please don’t forget to share the episode with friends and family.
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27:02: until next week, we hope you have a fantastic few days.
27:05: We’ll speak to you again soon.
27:06: Bye for now.