Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne have long been touted as Australia’s most expensive cities when it comes to property, but after three years of a COVID-19-bolstered boom, Brisbane has climbed the ranks.
Since 2020, homes in Queensland’s capital have increased by 50 per cent, making it now the nation’s third most expensive city with median dwelling price of $787,217.
Corelogic data shows it’s the first time in 15 years that dwellings in the Greater Brisbane region are more expensive than Melbourne’s median price of $780,457.
Michael Deacon’s family had to get innovative to survive Brisbane’s booming property market, combining incomes with his mother-in-law to buy a home for three generations.
“It was pretty scary. We didn’t know what we were going to do,” he said.
“She was the one that actually suggested the idea to us.
“It’s a two-storey house but it’s complete dual living so an upstairs-downstairs, and it’s great for our daughter.”
While Mr Deacon’s mother-in-law Pat Smith had no mortgage on her home, rising interest rates coupled with the growing property market made her worry for her family’s future.
“We were thinking of leaving Brisbane altogether and going up to Yeppoon because prices were a bit cheaper, but we decided against that. It was too big a move,” Ms Smith said.
Source: Brisbane overtakes Melbourne as Australia’s third most expensive city to buy property for the first time in 15 years, Meg Bolton and Peter Quattrocelli for ABC News