SEQ Property May Market Update
Winter is arriving in South East Queensland, and while it brings some of the best open home weather in the country, the market is anything but seasonal. Supply is tightening, demand is holding, and the numbers across each region tell a story worth paying attention to.
Here's the regional breakdown.
Brisbane
Median house values have now cleared $1.2M, with units sitting at $865K. ANZ Research's April 2026 update forecasts Brisbane to grow 9.7% this year before affordability constraints begin to slow that pace. For value buyers, the corridors worth watching are Springfield Lakes, Redbank Plains, and Morayfield, areas where growth potential hasn't yet been fully priced in.
Gold Coast
The headline that caught even seasoned observers off guard: Gold Coast median unit prices have hit $956K, eclipsing Sydney for the first time in history. What's driving it isn't just demand, it's a supply cliff. Apartment completions are projected to fall from nearly 1,900 in 2025 to fewer than 100 by 2027. Rental yields remain strong, particularly in the unit market, sitting around 5.1% in Southport. For investors, those two data points together are hard to ignore.
Sunshine Coast
With a median around $1.08M, the Sunshine Coast continues to offer a more accessible entry point compared to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Limited listings and consistent demand are doing the heavy lifting, and vacancy rates as low as 0.5% in some suburbs tell the income story for landlords.
Northern NSW
Byron Bay's prestige end has seen some softening at the top, but the Tweed and Ballina corridor is picking up buyers priced out of the southern markets. Kingscliff and Banora Point are attracting consistent enquiry, the lifestyle credentials are increasingly hard to argue with, and the price points relative to Byron remain attractive.
The bigger picture
Each of these markets is being shaped by the same underlying forces: limited supply, population growth, and infrastructure investment. The nuance is in understanding where you are in each cycle and what that means for your specific situation as a buyer, seller, or investor.