The suburban dream of a house on a quarter-acre block close to the city is not dead yet — it’s just rare and more expensive than ever.
Analysis of PropTrack data shows larger than average land parcels close to one of Queensland’s capital cities are becoming rarer and more valuable, but they still exist within 15km of Brisbane’s CBD.
In Brisbane, Fig Tree Pocket has the biggest average blocks close to to the city centre at an average 952 sqm, but the median house price in the suburb is $1.8m.
This property at 290 Jesmond Rd, Fig Tree Pocket, comprises a huge land parcel of 3136 sqm, just 11km from the CBD.
The property at 290 Jesmond Rd, Fig Tree Pocket, is on the market with Alex Jordan of McGrath Estate Agents.
RELATED: Dirt rich: Block of land now costs $700k in Olympic city
Just 7km from the city centre, buyers can get a 735 sqm house block in Chapel Hill for $1.5m, followed by Carindale ($1.6m) for a house on an average 700 sqm land parcel.
With the state facing a critical housing shortage, demand for homes means large lots closer to city centres are selling for a premium, particularly given the potential for well-located land to be subdivided and developed.
House prices in suburbs with larger blocks like Fig Tree Pocket, Chapel Hill, Carindale, The Gap and Kenmore have all risen more than 80 per cent in the past five years.
This six-bedroom house on 1916 sqm at 312A Kirkdale Rd, Chapel Hill, is on the market.
This five-bedroom house on 1102 sqm at 11 Ironbark St, Carindale, is on the market via an auction campaign.
MORE: ‘Convenient? Absolutely!’ Bizarre twist in 100 yo Aus home
PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said high property prices and the scarcity of large blocks meant most buyers usually had to look further afield, but there were still options closer to the city.
Many of the suburbs with the biggest average block sizes close to a CBD in Queensland were well-established, with few new housing estates or subdivisions, Mr Moore noted.
“Fig Tree Pocket isn’t building new homes,” he said. “It’s a well-established suburb, reflecting older subdivisions and older approaches.
| Suburbs with the largest blocks near Brisbane’s CBD | ||||
| Rank | Suburb | Distance to CBD | Median land area (sqm) | Median sale price |
| 1 | Fig Tree Pocket | 13km | 952 | $1,821,000 |
| 2 | Chapel Hill | 9.7km | 735 | $1,558,000 |
| 3 | Carindale | 14km | 700 | $1,685,000 |
| 4 | The Gap | 11km | 654 | $1,371,000 |
| 5 | Kenmore | 11km | 652 | $1,350,000 |
| 6 | Chermside | 13km | 647 | $1,118,000 |
| 7 | Indooroopilly | 7km | 645 | $1,710,000 |
| 8 | Carina Heights | 10km | 642 | $1,352,000 |
| 9 | McDowall | 13km | 631 | $1,200,000 |
| 10 | Seven Hills | 7km | 627 | $1,255,000 |
| Source: PropTrack | ||||
PropTrack economist Angus Moore.
“Some of these suburbs will go through the pressure of people wanting to live there and making subdivisions into duplexes viable and attractive, so we potentially might see them change over time, but you can’t subdivide blocks in some areas.
“That means they keep that existing parcel size, which keeps homes quite expensive in those areas.”
It comes as new Place Advisory market data reveals residential land in Brisbane has never been more expensive, with the median value now $702,000, overtaking Melbourne to become Australia’s second most expensive capital city land market.
This 405 sqm vacant residential lot at 8 Wilden St, Paddington, has sold for a suburb record of $2.35m.
An average 405 sqm block in Paddington just sold for a suburb record for a vacant lot for$2.35m.
Selling agent Nick Mann of Wakely Properties said a family planning to build their “dream home” paid a staggering $580,200/sqm for the lot at 8 Wilden Street, “which is just huge”.
Mr Wakely said land in the area was “the rarest commodity”.
It comes hot on the heels of a 599 sqm vacant block in Watson St, Camp Hill, selling for $2.4m, and a 929 sqm vacant block in Hawthorne fetching an eye-watering $3.65m.
This 929 sqm vacant land parcel at 91-93 Amy St, Hawthorne, sold for $3.6m recently.
Place Woolloongabba agent Roxanne Alterio said blocks of land in coveted locations were smashing records and DA approved parcels were attracting unprecedented buyer competition.
The surge was being fuelled by an influx of cashed up interstate and international buyers,
local developers, and prestige home builders, all vying for scarce, high-quality land, she said.
“Blocks that are ready to build on, especially with DA approval, are like gold right now,” Ms Alterio said.
“They take away the red tape, they save months of planning delays, and in this market
that speed is priceless. We’re seeing buyers who would have once waited for approvals now paying a premium to secure DA approved land. They want certainty and the ability to build immediately.”
This 1400 sqm land parcel at 53 Kneale St, Holland Park West, is on the market via a top offers campaign.
This 1400 sqm land parcel at 53 Kneale St, Holland Park West, is on the market via a top offers campaign.
A quarter-acre (1000 sqm) is more than double the 405 sqm average block size in Brisbane — a figure that has shrunk over the past decade, according to the ABS, despite Australians building ever larger homes.
Ms Alterio is marketing a 1402 sqm double block with two houses and DA approval to subdivide at 53 Kneale Street, Holland Park West.
“We’ve had enquiry from local builders, investors who want to land bank, and families
dreaming of a forever home with those panoramic views,” she said.
This house on 3ha at 214 Tarata Rd, Guanaba, is scheduled to go to auction.
This house on more than 4000 sqm at 12 Fallon Rd, Kuranda, is on the market for offers over $849,000.
On the Gold Coast, PropTrack reveals the biggest blocks are a bit further from the city centre, which is classified as Southport.
The acreage suburb of Guanaba has an average land size of 33,000 sqm, with a median house price of $1.9m, about 26km from Southport.
Clagiraba has a similar typical lot size, distance, and median price, while Mount Nathan is the same distance but with a smaller block size of 9000 sqm.
Cootharaba, Federal, and Hunchy have the largest residential land parcels on the Sunshine Coast at around 40,000 sqm, with median prices of $1.2m to $1.3m.
This property on a large parcel of land at 5 Spring Gardens Ct, Hunchy, is for sale.
This five-bedroom house on 4000 sqm at 38 Aurora Dr, Black River, is on the market for offers over $819,000.
In the state’s north, the biggest house blocks closest to the city centre in Cairns are in Speewah, Kuranda, and Goldsborough, while near Townsville, buyers seeking lots of land should look in Broughton, Black River, or Alligator Creek.
“The premium people are placing on larger homes did increase during the pandemic and that seems to be persisting,” Mr Moore said. “There’s still a premium on having an extra bedroom.”
But he said average block sizes for new homes were getting smaller as land became more scarce.
“Land is fundamentally hard to supply, particularly in inner city areas,” he said. “That’s not to say there aren’t things we can do to unlock land availability. One of those things is building more transport infrastructure. That’s why we talk about the importance of building and upzoning in highly sought-after locations, because the only way we can put homes there…is by using the land more efficiently.”
English (US) · 