Keeping your cool as Brisbane’s unit market heats up
Brisbane’s unit market is showing early signs of continuing last year’s momentum in 2024, with sales, price growth, and rental yields all on the rise.
A data-backed deep dive into the unit value boom
According to Brisbane buyers agent and director of Lauren Jones Buyers Agency, Lauren Jones, the Brisbane apartment market has seen a significant boom, with a surge in home and unit values showing no sign of slowing down in 2024. Jones comments upon the sky-rocketing nature of buyer demand, making the local market a battlefield for hungry property hunters.
Brisbane’s unit market is currently one of the most competitive markets in Australia, says Lauren, adding that demand is stronger than ever, and listings have remained low all year.
According to Corelogic, lower-quartile market segments—including units—are moving much faster than the upper-quartile house market and high-end properties. This is likely a by-product of the increasing affordability pressures nationwide as the cost-of-living crisis becomes more widespread. Unfortunately, this only means that unit values—and all property values, for that matter—will continue to rise into the predictable future.
This is especially true for units located in Greater Brisbane. The local market has shown better median price growth in comparison to both Melbourne and Sydney over the past year.
How buyers agents are navigating the market shift
In 2024, professionals in the real estate industry have had their work cut out for them as they navigate the high buying demand in Brisbane’s unit market. However, they agree that now is a great time to buy or invest—if you have the skill (and willpower) to do so.
Buyers are getting pushed out of the house market and moving into the apartment and townhouse market due to price point and budget constraints. Apartments are the entry level for a first home buyer and offer low maintenance, single level living for downsisers.
As such, there is now an influx of clients hoping to purchase an apartment, villa, or townhouse—many of whom are first home buyers and downsisers.
Here are some key shifts in the market in 2024, as noted by LJBA:
- Requiring tighter conditions i.e. shorter finance and building and pest inspection clauses
- Seeing more enquiry from tight budgeted buyers who wouldn’t historically use a buyer’s agent
- Needing to move on properties faster than ever
- Seeing fewer A-Grade off market options
- Relying more heavily on LJBA’s relationships with local selling agents
- Seeing properties go under contract within a week across dozens of local real estate firms
“Week after week,” Lauren explains, “the LJBA team runs into the same buyers at open homes as they struggle to compete in the current, crazy conditions of Brisbane’s apartment market.”
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Meet Lauren Jones, a leading buyers agent operating on behalf of her own Brisbane-based business, Lauren Jones Buyers Agency. As well as being a fully licensed agent, Lauren is a Qualified Property Investment Advisor (QPIA). Her years of experience and honed expertise in the real estate and financial services sectors have granted her a position at the top of her field. With her consistent ability to choose homes that outperform the market, Lauren’s property selection strategies are unmatched. As is her advice.
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