Queensland’s housing crisis is fuelling an unprecedented granny flat boom, with demand for secondary homes surging across the state.
Exclusive analysis from REA Group found searches for granny flats across Queensland had surged by 50.1 per cent last quarter, compared to the same time last year.
Demand for granny flats across Queensland has surged by more than 50 per cent since this time last year, with builders expecting to built ten times more today than they did in 2022.
Search results for granny flats have trended upward across the state since October 2025.
The month of May saw a 6.9 per cent increase in searches, one of the highest months on record since the pandemic.
This followed research from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) that found builders expected to make 10 times more granny flats in 2026 than they did in 2022.
A home with a granny flat for sale in Zillmere. Searches for secondary homes have been consistently trending upward in Queensland since October of 2025.
A granny flat in Middle Park. May saw a 6.9 per cent jump in searches, the highest on record since early 2024 and one of the largest results since the Covid-19 pandemic.
REA Group senior analyst Megan Lieu said the year’s interest rate hikes were encouraging families to consider granny flats as a second home for family members or potential renters.
“We’re seeing a lot of people who are under 30 still living at home, and we’re seeing a big increase in multigenerational living,” she said.
“Granny flats or dual-living [homes] are more conducive to that lifestyle.
REA Group senior analyst Megan Lieu said spiking interest rates were causing a surge in demand for multigenerational spaces or secondary sources of income.
“Granny flats do produce additional rental income, and there obviously has been three interest rate increases, and that has increased mortgage repayments.
“So that’s something that can potentially offset those home ownership costs.”
Ms Lieu said her team expected another jump in demand for granny flats later in the year.
“I think the market is predicting there’s going to be another rate hike later this year, probably in August-September,” she said.
A Graceville granny flat on the market. Another jump in demand for these kinds of homes is expected later in the year with another interest rate rise.
“That puts more pressure on affordability as well, and we might see a further increase in homes that provide the ability to offset these increasing mortgage repayments.”
Brisbane-based granny flat builder Teeny Tiny Homes experienced a 400 per cent increase in inquiries after moving their business to Caboolture in November 2023.
The company built three to four granny flats a month when it launched in 2016, which increased to three to four every week by 2026.
A home with a second dwelling in Sandgate. One granny flat builder in Brisbane saw a 400 per cent jump in inquiries since November 2023.
Director David Antonacci said the company had around 16,000 inquiries for granny flats this year alone, and recently sold 15 in one day at a convention in November.
“Housing has become less affordable for many people, whether they are renting, trying to buy, or helping family members stay close,” he said.
“We are hearing from parents who want to help adult children save for a deposit, families who want to support ageing parents, and homeowners who want an additional income stream. The appeal is the flexibility. A granny flat might be family accommodation today, a rental later, or a downsizing option in the future.”
Teeny Tiny Homes co-founder and director David Antonacci said granny flats were being highly valued for their flexibility and ease of construction.
HIA senior economist Tom Devitt said recent changes to state planning laws meant more granny flats could be built legally across Australia, contributing to the rise in these secondary homes.
“Before they were either prohibited or restricted in a way that made them unviable,” he said.
“This potential boom in granny flats is starting from a very small base – until recently, NSW was really the only game in town, where a few thousand granny flats were built per year. As other states join the party, it’ll make a small but material contribution to overall housing supply.”
HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt said new state planning laws allowed for more people to build granny flats on their properties moving forward.
Mr Devitt said imports of prefabricated buildings had “spiked phenomenally” in the past two years, even before Australia’s large investment in data centre sites.
“Governments have talked wonders about the potential for modern methods of construction and prefabrication in boosting construction productivity and addressing our affordability challenges,” he said.
“This could be an important component of housing supply going forward, even if not a ‘silver bullet’.”
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