Queensland Property Market 2026: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast — Data, Commissions and Trends
Your vendors are asking sharper questions than they were two years ago, and your buyers are doing more research before they call. If you’re walking into a listing presentation without current, zone-specific data on your clipboard, you’re walking in underprepared. The Queensland property market in 2026 is not a single story — it’s six or seven distinct markets operating at different speeds, with different buyer profiles and different commission norms — and agents who understand that distinction are the ones building durable reputations right now.
This is a comprehensive reference across Brisbane’s inner and outer rings, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, and key regional centres, covering median prices by zone, days on market, rental vacancy, commission rate norms, interstate migration drivers, and the infrastructure pipeline that is reshaping price corridors in the lead-up to 2032.
The Headline Numbers: Where Prices Sat at the Turn of 2026
The REIQ’s median sales data for the December 2025 quarter shows the statewide median house price rose 6.11% over the quarter and 13.7% over the year. That is not modest growth — for a market that many commentators assumed would moderate through late 2025, those are figures that demand attention. The unit market outpaced houses, recording 7% quarterly growth and 16.13% annual growth.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella noted that in March 2020, Queensland’s annual median house price was just $490,000 — as of early 2025, it had risen to $790,000, representing a 61.22% increase. By December 2025, the trajectory had continued further. The statewide median sale price for houses reached $955,000 in the December 2025 quarter. For agents quoting statewide figures to clients, that is the anchor number entering 2026.
The supply side of the ledger explains the persistence of this growth with uncomfortable clarity. Under the National Housing Accord, Queensland needs to build just over 49,000 new dwellings each year over five years — however, over each of the last four quarters to September 2025, only about 34,000 new dwellings were completed. In January 2026, there were only 3,600 building approvals against the approximately 4,100 required each month — approvals are running approximately 13% below target. When demand is structural and supply is chronically short, price support is not a forecast; it’s a condition.
Brisbane: Zone by Zone
Brisbane LGA — The Inner City
Brisbane’s headline median is now firmly in seven-figure territory. In the December 2025 quarter, Brisbane LGA’s median house price rose 4.07% to $1,405,000, while units saw a 7.14% increase to $825,000. The unit market’s outperformance is not incidental — it reflects a structural shift in buyer behaviour as affordability constraints push demand toward more accessible price points.
Cotality’s data for April 2026 shows dwelling values increased 1.2% in the month, 4.7% over the quarter, and 19.7% over the year, taking the median dwelling value to approximately $1,116,180. Brisbane values are at a fresh peak, with growth of 84.0% over five years and 119.5% over ten years. These are not numbers you use to generate excitement — they are context-setting figures that explain why entry-level buyers are increasingly active in the outer LGAs and why experienced investors are treating the inner ring as a hold, not a sell.
Units are outperforming houses on annual growth, rising 22.6% compared with 19.1% for houses. For agents working the inner-city unit market, this is the conversation to have with vendors who haven’t repriced their expectations since 2023.
Greater Brisbane — Outer LGAs
The story in the outer ring is one of relative affordability attracting sustained demand. In the December 2025 quarter, Cairns rose 6.9% to a median of $782,750, Ipswich climbed 6.75% to $856,000, Moreton Bay lifted 6.45% to $990,000, and Townsville jumped 6.25% to $680,000.
In earlier quarters, Ipswich reached $735,000, Logan climbed to $789,450, Moreton Bay edged to $852,750, and Redland reached $950,000 — all outpacing the Brisbane LGA core. These LGAs have a distinct buyer profile: first-home buyers priced out of the capital, upgraders from Logan and Ipswich moving into Moreton Bay, and interstate migrants who want a Queensland lifestyle without paying the inner-city premium.
Brisbane’s strongest annual price gains in 2026 are concentrated in the city’s southern and south-western corridors, with outer-ring and fringe areas leading growth. Beaudesert ranked first across Greater Brisbane with annual growth of 25.4% and a median of $959,256 — its semi-rural character and proximity to both the Gold Coast and Brisbane have made it a consistent drawcard for buyers seeking land and space.
The Redlands LGA, after becoming a million-dollar-median market in the September quarter 2025, recorded the highest quarterly growth in December at 7.37% to $1,115,000. For agents working the Redlands, the pricing conversation with prospective vendors needs to be anchored to that milestone — the psychological shift from “under a million” to “over a million” changes buyer pool composition and requires a different marketing approach.
Days on Market — Brisbane
Median days on market for houses across Queensland extended to 22 days in the December 2025 quarter, with faster selling conditions in Rockhampton at 14 days and Toowoomba at 15 days. For Brisbane inner, anecdotal market evidence and agent reporting consistently points to well-presented, accurately priced properties in the $1m–$1.5m bracket selling in under three weeks. Properties sitting beyond 35 days are typically overpriced, inadequately marketed, or both.
Gold Coast: Beyond the Lifestyle Label
The Gold Coast has evolved beyond a purely lifestyle destination. Strong population growth, diversified employment sectors, and infrastructure investment have helped underpin demand. That evolution matters for how you position listings to interstate buyers — the Gold Coast is no longer simply a retirement and holiday market.
In the June 2025 quarter, the Gold Coast median house price rose 3.36% to $1.23 million. By September 2025, the Gold Coast had joined Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, and Noosa in the million-dollar-median club, sitting at $1.26 million. These are not aspirational benchmarks — they are the working medians agents are pricing to every week.
Median house prices in many Gold Coast suburbs now exceed traditional Brisbane benchmarks. That inversion — a coastal market with a higher median than the capital — represents a significant structural change that international buyers, particularly those from Asia and the United Kingdom who associate Gold Coast with affordable beachside property, often find surprising.
For agents on the Gold Coast, the listing commission conversation has shifted in line with prices. Industry practice at this price point sits in the range of 2.0% to 2.5% for houses, with negotiated flat-fee arrangements emerging at the prestige end (above $2.5 million). The Gold Coast prestige segment — Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach Waters, Surfers Paradise high-rise — continues to attract significant attention from Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China buyers, particularly in the premium apartment sector where yields on short-stay licenced properties can justify acquisition costs. Agents with multilingual capability or established referral networks into Asian buyer communities are at a measurable competitive advantage in this corridor.
Noosa’s unit quarterly median led the state at $1.15 million, and median days on market for units remained swift at 20 days statewide, with Toowoomba’s unit market heating up at just 10.5 days to sell.
Sunshine Coast: A Million-Dollar Market Finding Its Ceiling
The Sunshine Coast median house price now sits at $1.08 million, up 7.2% in the past year and around 70% since 2020. Units average $770,000, representing a 52% increase over five years. For a market that was broadly sub-$600,000 in 2019, this is a complete repricing of the region’s value proposition.
REA Group Senior Economist Anne Flaherty noted that Sunshine Coast home prices increased by almost 10% in 2025, above the national rate but below the regional Queensland growth rate of almost 12.5%, driven by “population growth and tight housing conditions” but with affordability pressures having “shifted buyer demand.”
Prices are likely to continue rising in 2026 but at a more moderate pace, underpinned by migration, the Sunshine Coast’s lifestyle appeal, and housing shortages. Affordability constraints and relatively high interest rates could temper growth.
Over five years, Sunshine Coast property values surged 70–76%, making it Queensland’s most expensive regional market and one of the top four nationally — a shift that reflects its transformation from a holiday haven to a thriving metro-regional hub.
The buyer profile on the Sunshine Coast in 2026 is broadly tri-modal: owner-occupiers relocating from South-East Queensland or interstate, investors targeting the strong rental market, and a growing cohort of buyers from Sydney and Melbourne who have sold at peak prices and are purchasing outright or near-outright. Agents in the Caloundra, Maroochydore, and Noosa corridors are routinely working with buyers who have $1.2 million to spend without a finance clause. Understanding how to manage a cash buyer who has done extensive online research — and who often arrives with inflated expectations about negotiating leverage — is now a core competency in this market.
Baringa was included in the annual realestate.com.au Hot 100 list for 2026, identifying it as one of the 100 suburbs around Australia with the best real estate prospects. Baringa is home to approximately 4,600 people with a main demographic of 30-to-34-year-olds, and its median house price sits at $850,000. For agents covering the southern Sunshine Coast, this demographic data matters: family-oriented marketing, proximity to schools, and commuter accessibility to Maroochydore’s expanding CBD are the conversation starters that convert enquiries into inspections.
Commission norms on the Sunshine Coast reflect the price tier: typically 2.0% to 2.5% for houses in the $800,000–$1.5 million bracket, with tiered structures (for example, 2% to $1 million, 5% on any amount above) used by some agents to incentivise premium results. In the Noosa market, prestige commission of 2.5% to 3% is not unusual and is increasingly justifiable given the marketing investment required to reach the international buyer pool actively competing in that segment.
Regional Queensland: The Underreported Story
Regional Queensland has been the single most significant story in Australian residential property over the past two years, and it remains underweighted in most national coverage. The numbers from REIQ’s December 2025 data are stark.
By annual growth, Townsville led house price gains at 21.15%, followed by Gladstone at 19.39%, Mackay at 19.27%, Rockhampton at 18.75%, and Toowoomba at 18.11%. These are not fringe gains driven by a handful of sales — they are statistically robust results from active markets with meaningful transaction volumes.
Cotality’s Regional Market Update from August 2025 recorded gross rental yields of 5.3% in Gladstone, 5.7% in Mackay, 5.1% in Rockhampton, and 5.0% in Townsville — compared to the Australian combined capitals average of 3.5%. For investor clients seeking yield over capital growth, these figures are the argument. No inner-Brisbane suburb can compete with those yield metrics at comparable risk levels.
Townsville recorded strong quarterly growth of 5.77% to a median of $595,500 in an earlier quarter, with Toowoomba rising 4.35% to $683,500, Mackay gaining 4.17% to $625,000, and Bundaberg lifting 3.42% to $605,000.
The driver behind regional performance is a combination of factors that agents need to be able to articulate clearly: resource sector employment stability (particularly in Mackay, Gladstone, and Rockhampton), population inflow from coastal markets where buyers have been priced out, and the chronic under-supply of quality rental stock that is converting long-term tenants into buyers. NAB’s regional Queensland property market data for Q3 2025 showed a median dwelling value of $764,258, annual dwelling sales of 61,178, and a median days on market of 25 days.
For agents operating in regional centres, commission rates typically sit between 2.5% and 3.5%, reflecting the lower absolute price point and the concentrated buyer pools that require broader marketing reach and longer campaign periods. The differential is not a discount on professional service — it is a reflection of proportional marketing costs relative to sale price.
Interstate Migration: The Engine Room of Demand
Queensland’s property market does not operate in isolation from the national migration picture, and the data here is as important for market intelligence as any price chart. Brisbane and Queensland have benefited from a huge influx of internal migrants, particularly from Victoria and NSW, who flocked to Queensland in search of more affordable property in lifestyle suburbs.
Queensland’s yearly population growth has consistently exceeded Australia’s, reaching a peak of 2.7% in September 2023 compared to the national rate of 2.5%. By September 2024, Queensland’s annual growth had moderated to 2.0%, but remained above the national figure of 1.8%.
This moderation matters. The panic-driven interstate migration wave of 2021–2023, when entire families relocated within weeks, has settled into a steadier flow of deliberate, lifestyle-motivated movers. Today’s interstate migrant to Queensland is more likely to have researched extensively, taken a scouting trip, and has a realistic price range. They are not looking for a bargain — they are looking for a professional agent who understands the local market and can compress the decision-making process efficiently.
REIQ’s REIQ CEO noted that persistent supply pressures are underpinning price growth alongside ongoing demand-side factors including high interstate migration, expected strong population growth, and rental market strain seeing tenants transition to home ownership.
The international buyer dimension adds a further layer. UK-based buyers, particularly post-Brexit professionals relocating to Queensland, have remained active in the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast prestige segments. Singaporean and Hong Kong investor interest in Brisbane inner-city units and Gold Coast high-rise has been steady, driven by currency advantage when buying in Australian dollars relative to prior years. Chinese mainland buyers, while subject to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) requirements, continue to participate in new-build markets across South-East Queensland. The lead-up to the 2032 Olympics is expected to put Brisbane on the global stage, attracting business investment, tourism, and international residents — all of which feed directly into the housing market.
Agents with international referral networks — particularly those aligned with international real estate franchise brands or with multilingual team members — are capturing a disproportionate share of this buyer segment. If your agency is not actively positioning itself in this space, you are leaving a material number of transactions with a competitor who is.
The Olympics Infrastructure Pipeline and Its Impact on Specific Corridors
Hosting the 2032 Olympic Games is already reshaping Brisbane’s future. Unlike Sydney 2000, which focused primarily on the Games themselves, Brisbane’s Olympic planning is being integrated into long-term city-building strategies.
The infrastructure argument is not a promotional one — it is a structural one. Brisbane is set to benefit from infrastructure projects including the Brisbane Metro and the $15 billion Cross River Rail development, which will further boost its appeal to both domestic and international buyers. Cross River Rail, when operational, creates direct knock-on effects for property values in every corridor that gains a new or upgraded station. Woolloongabba — the precinct anchored by the Gabba Stadium, slated for a major rebuild as the centrepiece Olympic venue — is the most discussed corridor, but it is far from the only one.
As the Olympics build ramps up from late 2026 through to mid-2031, construction capacity that might otherwise go into residential development will be absorbed into the Olympics pipeline. CBRE forecasts just 3,100 new inner-city dwellings will be built each year from 2026 to 2031, well below the demand implied by Brisbane’s population growth. This has led to vacancy rate forecasts remaining at or below 1.0% until at least 2031.
For agents, this creates a specific advisory opportunity: clients holding investment properties in the inner-city ring who are contemplating a sale in the next two to three years should be having a frank conversation about the supply constraint that will persist through 2031 and its implications for hold-versus-sell decisions. This is not a prediction — it is a reading of published data that any informed agent should be able to deliver in a listing or portfolio review conversation.
CBRE forecasts that median apartment rents are likely to grow by 24% between 2025 and 2030 across Australian capital cities. In Brisbane’s case, with vacancy already compressed, the investor case for well-located residential property is structurally supported well beyond the Games themselves.
Suburbs and corridors agents should be monitoring closely: Woolloongabba, Kangaroo Point, and Dutton Park within the inner south; Bowen Hills and Herston within the inner north (adjacent to the RNA Showgrounds, which holds Olympic venue designations); and the Northshore Hamilton precinct, which is absorbing major infrastructure investment as part of the Games Athletes’ Village planning. Each of these corridors has distinct price dynamics and buyer profiles — and each rewards agents who can speak to them with specificity rather than generality.
Rental Vacancy and the Investor Activity It Is Driving
Vacancy rates and investor behaviour are tightly linked in Queensland’s current market, and the data points in a consistent direction. Vacancy rates across many regional markets remain tight, reflecting persistent rental shortages. Rental demand remains high across many regions, particularly in Brisbane and coastal hubs. Limited housing supply in some areas has contributed to rising rental prices, further enhancing the appeal of investment.
CBRE estimates that demand for housing stock in Brisbane is likely to average 16,000 dwellings per annum, which will drive city-wide vacancy from 1.1% to 0.7%. A vacancy rate of 0.7% is functionally a landlord’s market with no equilibrium in sight. Brisbane rents have already risen around 6.5% for houses and 6.4% for units over the year to April 2026.
For agents working with investor clients — whether local operators adding to a portfolio or interstate buyers entering the Queensland market — the rental yield and vacancy data is the first conversation, not an afterthought. Regional centres, in particular, offer yield metrics that inner Brisbane cannot match. Gladstone’s gross rental yield of 5.3%, Mackay’s 5.7%, Rockhampton’s 5.1%, and Townsville’s 5.0% stand in sharp contrast to the combined capitals average of 3.5%.
The investor market is also being shaped by the first-home buyer expansion. First-home buyers have been active following the Federal Government’s 5% Deposit Scheme that came into effect on 1 October 2025, with property price thresholds of $1 million in Brisbane, Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast, and $700,000 in other Queensland areas. As first-home buyers absorb available stock in the lower-to-mid price brackets, investors are being pushed either up the price scale into prestige product or out to regional centres where entry costs are lower and yields are higher. Agents who understand this displacement dynamic are better positioned to guide investor clients to markets that actually suit their financial profile.
Commission Rate Norms by Zone: The Professional Picture
Commission rates in Queensland are not legislatively capped, and market norms vary significantly by zone, price point, and property type. What follows reflects current industry practice, not a legal prescription.
Brisbane inner city (sub-10 km radius): Houses and townhouses in the $1.2 million–$2.5 million range typically attract commissions of 2.0% to 2.5%, with negotiated flat fees emerging at the prestige end. The density of competing agents in inner Brisbane creates downward pressure on commission rates, which is why agents who can demonstrate genuine marketing differentiation and track records of sale-price-to-estimate accuracy are better positioned to hold their rate.
Brisbane outer LGAs (Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay, Redlands): Commission norms in the $700,000–$1.1 million bracket typically sit between 2.25% and 2.75%. Tiered commission structures — where the agent earns a higher percentage on the amount above a nominated reserve — are gaining traction in these markets as a tool for aligning agent and vendor interests. Under Queensland law, any commission structure must be clearly disclosed and agreed in the Form 6 appointment.
Gold Coast: Rates of 2.0% to 2.5% are standard across the $1 million–$2 million bracket, with the prestige and hinterland segments often negotiating at 2.5% to 3%. Short-stay and holiday property listings, which carry elevated marketing requirements and a more complex buyer profile, can justify higher rates.
Sunshine Coast: Similar to the Gold Coast, 2.0% to 2.5% is the working range for the $900,000–$1.5 million segment. The Noosa market, with its elevated median ($1.5 million for houses as of September 2025) and international buyer involvement, commonly sees 2.5% to 3%.
Regional Queensland: Industry practice typically ranges from 2.5% to 3.5%, with some agents in lower-median markets such as Bundaberg and Cairns working at higher percentage rates to account for extended campaign periods and smaller buyer pools. The absolute dollar commission in these markets remains proportionate even at a higher percentage rate given the lower median prices.
Agents should always confirm their commission disclosure obligations under the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld) and ensure the Form 6 appointment reflects the agreed structure accurately. Where a tiered commission or performance bonus is used, the structure must be explicitly described, not summarised.
What This Means for Queensland Agents
The data entering 2026 tells a coherent and actionable story. Supply is structurally short, demand is structurally supported, and growth — while moderating from the extraordinary pace of 2021–23 — is continuing across every major zone. The agents who perform in this environment are not the ones reciting national headlines; they are the ones who can speak specifically to the Beaudesert corridor versus the Moreton Bay unit market versus the Noosa prestige segment. Specificity is credibility.
A key feature of the current market is that growth is continuing but buyers are becoming more selective. Brisbane remains stronger than Sydney and Melbourne, where values have recently declined, yet the pace of growth has softened as affordability, borrowing capacity, and interest rate pressure weigh on demand. Selective buyers require better-informed agents — vendors who are told their property is worth $1.4 million when the market will pay $1.28 million will not refer you to their neighbours.
Big bank forecasts for Brisbane growth in 2026 range from NAB’s conservative Queensland-wide figure of 4.4% to CBA’s 12.0%, with KPMG sitting broadly at the optimistic end, forecasting 9.3% dwelling growth across 2026 (houses 10.9%, units 7.8%). That spread of nearly 8 percentage points between forecasters reflects genuine uncertainty about interest rate trajectory — and agents should present forecast ranges to clients, not single-point predictions.
Bank of Queensland’s chief economist, having analysed four decades of data, said a 10 to 15% price rise over the next two years is a reasonable projection regardless of the number of rate cuts the RBA delivers. That view, cited publicly in the Australian Financial Review, gives weight to the bullish end of the forecast range and is the kind of credentialled third-party reference that belongs in a listing presentation.
For agents positioning themselves as market experts through 2026: anchor your conversations in REIQ quarterly data, cite the Cotality/CoreLogic monthly index, understand the Olympics infrastructure pipeline well enough to name specific precincts and explain the Cross River Rail corridor effect, and be able to distinguish clearly between the five major zones this article covers. That combination — current data, zone-specific detail, and infrastructure literacy — is what separates the market expert from the market participant.
Data sources: REIQ Median Sales Reports Q2–Q4 2025 and Q1 2026; Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) Home Value Index May 2026; CBRE Research 2025–2026; ABS National, State and Territory Population data to September 2024; REA Group and Domain economic research. Commission rate figures reflect current industry practice across Queensland and are not legal advice. Agents should confirm disclosure requirements under the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld) for their specific circumstances. This article is subject to annual data refresh.