Brisbane is now the second most expensive capital city market after Sydney.

For the first time on record in May this year, the median house value across Brisbane surpassed the $1million mark, pushing the city to the exclusive million-dollar club alongside Sydney.

The median house value hit $1.06M in May, up from $996k in April and up $972k from the prior year.

In June, housing prices continued to move higher, with the median lifting to $1.11M.

June also marks the 9th consecutive month that Brisbane has maintained the 2nd highest ranking behind Sydney by median value, overtaking Canberra in October last year, and Melbourne in June last year.

Brisbane house values have seen a rapid growth in the past five years, coinciding with the early stages of the COVID pandemic. 

How did this happen?

One of the biggest driving factors of the Brisbane housing market has likely been the surge in demand from a shift in interstate migration. Prior to 2020, the Brisbane market had experienced softer conditions, setting the market for a more affordable starting point when the COVID housing boom arrived. Brisbane offered the joint appeal of being more affordable than southern states, as well as having lower density and warmer weather during the pandemic.

From 2020-2024, Greater Brisbane’s population grew by a substantial 9.2%, well above the national growth figure of 6%. 

The rapid boost to population growth at a time of constraints on housing supply is likely what led to a substantial boost in values and urgency in the housing market.

While Queensland has benefited from overseas migrants, it has been the interstate migration that has boosted the population, and in turn, the property prices. This has also led to an overall boost in the Queensland economy.

The negative to the upswing in property prices may see Brisbane lose its affordability advantage of a few years ago and start to dissuade interstate movers. This affordability constraint is also reflected in a slowdown in Brisbane house value growth. While house values lifted a solid 1.9% in the quarter, the pace of growth has slowed substantially from 3.5% in the June 2024 quarter and a high of 10.2% in the three months to November 2021.