City Beat December 2024: Brisbane unit market surges to highest annual growth since 1988
It was 1988 the last time the Brisbane unit market saw a growth rate of over 16 per cent in a calendar year.
2024 has just broken that 36-year record, according to data commissioned by property data analytics firm CoreLogic shows. The 0.8 per cent gain in unit values in December pushed the annual growth rate of units in the Queensland capital to 16.6 per cent, far outperfoming the unit markets in Sydney and Melbourne.
The unit market in Brisbane is proving to be more resilient than other capital cities, albeit the 0.8 per cent growth in December is down from the highs of around two per cent per month in the middle of the year.
The median apartment value in Brisbane now sits at $680,000, having started the year at $568,000.
Annual growth in the unit market in Brisbane far surpassed houses. Houses in Brisbane rose 10.2 per cent over the year, with values in December growing at half the pace of units (0.4 per cent).
CoreLogic's National Home Value Index saw a decline for the first time in two years. CoreLogic Research Director, Tim Lawless, said the decline in values is no surprise.
“This result represents the housing market catching up with the reality of market dynamics,” Lawless said.
“Growth in housing values has been consistently weakening through the second half of the year, as affordability constraints weighed on buyer demand and advertised supply levels trended higher.”
What happened in Brisbane’s off the plan apartment market in December?
December is traditionally a quiet month in the new apartment market. There were some notable movements however, the biggest in South Brisbane where Heidelberg Materials Australia submitted plans for a multi-tower precinct on a 1.3-hectare site along the riverfront.
The proposal is for three 50-level residential towers with 620 apartments, a food and beverage plaza, and a 5,400 sqm public park.
This ambitious project reflects the ongoing transformation of the Kurilpa Precinct, where new planning policies encourage greater density and sustainability benchmarks.
Read more: Multi-tower precinct planned for South Brisbane riverfront
Developer GRAYA also filed for a new development, another one in New Farm where they've recently delivered Chalk and York.
They've submitted plans for Ivory New Farm, just four apartments at 17 Julius Street. The Julius Street site spans 688 sqm and has 32-metre frontage to the river. It was bought by the Gray family for $8.5 million in late 2022 from developer Tom Dooley, who had approved plans for a luxury four-level home.
It was reported that a home at that scale, on that rare of a site, would be worth around $20 million. A mid-1990s home sits on the block currently.
Popular Brisbane developer Mosaic Property Group achieved a landmark pre-sales result at The Bedford in Kangaroo Point, securing $210 million in sales within two weeks.
Positioned on a long-vacant site, The Bedford will deliver 128 apartments and the area’s first full-service supermarket, addressing a critical gap in local amenities. Mosaic’s in-house construction arm is set to commence building in 2025.
Read more: Mosaic secure $210m in pre-sales at The Bedford by Mosaic in Kangaroo Point
