Understanding Brisbane

I am trying to understand why Brisbane seems to be so much cheaper than Sydney and Melbourne, prompted by article here. Red lines are my addition.

1. QLD population is growing faster than that of NSW and VIC (granted that unlike NSW and VIC, majority of people don't settle in greater Brisbane area).
2. The gap between building approvals in Queensland and Victoria/NSW is historically large

Can it all be explained by Economy? I doubt it, if that was the case then Tasmania wouldn't have boomed. Economy in Tasmania is not ideal and population growth is abysmal according to the latest episode of "Investment property".

 

There was a huge apartment glut in Brisbane which would have kept prices suppressed.

 

That is understandable. I would expect Brisbane units to be cheaper. And they are cheaper. Why the houses are so much cheaper than Melbourne and Sydney?

 

Average salaries, State size/population, Mining slowdown, state government leadership bla bla.. to name a few!.

 

I beg to disagree sir! Brisbane is not that far from other eastern capitals in wage. Perth had a median wage of $1400, while Brisbane’s was $1305 and Sydney had a median of $1304 ($67,808 a year before tax). Source

So wages are unlikely to be the reason. I’m also mindful that cost of living in Brisbane is much lower, so in real terms $1305 in Brisbane is much more that same amount in Sydney.

Mining slowdown and stigma post floods is another explanation. I’ve also noticed that underemployment and unemployment rate is the fourth highest in Australia. Maight be one of the reasons.

 

Most large head offices are in Sydney or Melbourne.

QLD is huge state with many depressed areas.

Brisbane expanded in 360 degrees and is not as water bound as Sydney say.

 

Great point. Available land is probably a big variable. Sydney has ocean to the east, blue mountains to the west and national park to the south (and big chunk of the north). I think Queensland government should just declare all available land as national park If they refuse, land will eventually be absorbed.

Large companies tend to concentrate in Sydney and Melbourne. However, data from the most recent Startup Muster report has shown Brisbane (and the broader state of Queensland) has remained the second-largest city for startup founders to base their businesses for the last two years running.

Even though that is the case, NSW startups secured twice as much funding as Queensland start ups. Go figure....

 

Brisbane has a mountain (ok, it's really just a little hill) ten klms west of the CBD with a National Park. It also has a big blue wet place to the east, same as Sydney.

Seriously, a lot of population growth goes north to the Sunshine Coast and south to the Gold Coast. These do not count in statistics for "Brisbane".

 

I've lived in Brisbane and Sydney and Sydney is my preferred state.
I prefer the weather and the beaches being close. So Sydney simply has more demand.
I'd imagine the large amount of water front property & suburbs pushes average prices up as well.

 

Bogans. Bogans everywhere.

 

There's just still too much land for people to settle to up the sunshine coast and down the GC(though the popular tourist beach areas have been really overbuilt with apartments)

Population wise, Brisbane pop. is only 2m.+ vs 5m+ in Sydney.

I know of a few Brisbanites who were getting loans to buy property in Sydney during this last boom rather than invest locally lol, so there you go.

Most of the foreign $$ past few years from Asian countries and China were also pouring into Syd/Melb. Gold coast probably more well known by foreigners than brisbane lol...

 

The rich have their holiday homes on the coast which isnt brissy, so brissy is really full of queenslanders driving prices up for lifestyle not trophy homes. In sydney - the largest natural harbour in the world - the rich want to live/own on the harbour. Sydney will always be an attractive city, even if the rest of the country isnt at the time. Someone threw up great stats a month or so ago about price changes in the last 40 years, Brisbane was great value / had not increased as much as other capital cities. Brisbane has to work hard to be a draw card - biggest industries are government and health services. Watch this space though big things are coming - Brisbane Live, Airport additions, riverside retail developments, cross river rail + metro, new casino. Brissy is the place to be!

 

We'll see, these projects are gonna at least take double the time and double the funding like they always do. But hey not complaining, at least my kids get to enjoy a less crowded city for another generation..

 

Double the time and money means more money in the city

Besides, Sydney light rail took three times longer than planned and still is not finished. Same with the cost, I think it quadrupled.

I don’t think Brisbane had the infrastructure boom / investment I’m seeing in its southern cousins. In Sydney pretty much every other street has been dug up and something is being done. Metro, light rail, westconnex, aeropolis, north east rail line and the list goes on. I think it was said to be the biggest infrastructure splurge in history. Melbourne is not far behind.

Doesn’t seem much being built in Brisbane/ SEQ.

 

simple, it has smaller bubble than the other 2 cities

 

I don’t know much about QLD but when we think about it from down here in Melbourne we divide the state into 3 areas being Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

Correct me if I’m wrong but when people think of VIC and NSW it’s only ever Melbourne and Sydney.

So we have a lot more concentration on our major cities whereas QLD divides attention across their 3. By this I mean infrastructure projects, business, development, government funding .etc

I have spoken to hundreds of people who have said in retirement they will move to QLD. The thing is they always say either GC or SC.
Guess the point I’m trying to make is I think the variety of options in QLD is a major influence to house prices as people simply have multiple options = less concentrated demand.

In Melbourne where I’m from, if your not in Melbourne, your regional. I don’t know of anyone who moves to Melbourne to move to Sale.

 

That is true. Though it seems it is changing very slowly. Geelong seems to pop up often in conversations these days. Wollongong and Newcastle are becoming popular in NSW. Seems there are areas outside major cities that are becoming attractive even in NSW and VIC.

 

Very rare breed these days in Brisbane once you understand the BCC rateable footprint ,only when you step outside that footprint it's a different story..

 

From my experience, most of the bogans are in Logan, Ipswich and Caboolture areas, not Brisbane .

 

Abysmal. Its highest than it has ever been and more than S.A and W.A