Qld’s demolition hotspots have been revealed
Housing supply has hit a standstill in some of the state’s most sought-after suburbs where the wrecking ball is outpacing building approvals, new analysis reveals.
Despite the State Government’s desperate push to build more homes, latest data shows coastal and fringe areas shouldering the bulk of new supply, while some city pockets recorded demolition rates far exceeding home builds.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data for the financial year to March 2026 hints at the death of what urban planners dub the “missing middle” in traditional residential suburbs.
This new house in Wynnum is listed at $1.2m
Older homes in these popular areas are being bulldozed to make way for single luxury rebuilds, resulting in zero net housing stock for the community.
Across Queensland, 34,195 dwellings were approved including 19,206 houses and 14,989 other residences (eg. townhouses, units). A total of 2371 demolitions took place over the same nine-month period, resulting in a net increase of 31,824 homes.
Greater Brisbane gained 17,112 of those, recording 18,686 approved dwellings and 1574 demolitions.
But a localised breakdown shows housing supply went backwards in some city pockets, while targeted hubs like Upper Mount Gravatt successfully added density.
Apartments are selling from $1.495m in this 69-unit development in Southport
Tarragindi in Brisbane’s inner-south stood out with 39 demolitions but only 31 new house approvals, recording a net loss of eight homes over the period surveyed.
In the bayside suburb of Wynnum, 19 homes were bulldozed but only 16 new builds approved — a net loss of three.
And in Salisbury-Nathan 20 demolitions matched 20 new single-dwelling approvals.
Supply still hit the wall in other suburbs that managed to stay in the black. Wavell Heights recorded 33 homes bulldozed but only 38 approved, a net gain of just five, while Camp Hill demolished 28 dwellings for an increase of seven.
Density also flattened in suburbs with a slight gain such as Sunnybank, which notched up 21 demolitions against 31 single-house approvals, yielding a net gain of 10.
The data reflects strict low-density zoning and character overlays through much of the middle ring, effectively blocking multi-dwelling density.
A house and land package in Morayfield priced at $900,000
Even where zoning allows for it, industry warns today’s economic crunch risks killing off affordable housing, with soaring material costs rendering these projects unviable for developers.
Master Builders CEO Paul Bidwell said a recent industry survey served as a “huge wake-up call,” with fixed-price contracts pushing builders to the brink as overall project costs surged by up to 10 per cent.
“High-end projects are increasingly the only ones viable, and the average value for new construction is now hitting $787,342 per dwelling – up from $517,476 a year ago,” Mr Bidwell said.
Developing Queensland – Master Builders CEO, Paul Bidwell.
The industry body noted fixed-price contracts have become a massive pain point for builders unable to absorb cost blowouts.
It had resulted in clients pausing projects and about eight per cent of builders forced to stand down workers.
The “highest and best use” of the land has shifted to knocking down a post-war cottage and building a high-end home, fuelling a gentrification cycle where the wrecking ball is active, but no actual housing supply is added to the market.
It’s putting pressure to the state’s housing shortage — and pushing up prices as homebuyers compete for a dwindling pool of properties.
This new house in Sunnybank is under contract for an undisclosed sum
ABS data shows new housing was heavily weighted to outer-fringe sprawl and coastal mega-density.
Boronia Heights – Park Ridge recorded a net increase of 633 homes over the period, while Morayfield added 534 homes.
Meanwhile, high-density projects were primarily clustered on the Gold Coast, where large-scale developers have the capital to absorb pipeline delays.
In Mermaid Waters, 23 existing properties were demolished to make way for 1,044 apartment and townhouse approvals, yielding a net gain of 1,051 homes.
Nearby, Southport added 501 homes from 506 unit approvals, bulldozing just 21 properties.
Queensland’s goal is 50,000 new homes a year to be built under the National Housing Accord.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella
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But Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) analysis shows just 32,900 dwellings were completed over the past 12 months, leaving the state about 33 per cent behind target.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the Queensland market had proven remarkably resilient, despite the supply gap.
“Elevated construction costs and capacity constraints continue to challenge feasibility,” Ms Mercorella said.
“We need sustained action to boost housing delivery, improve productivity, and make it easier to bring the right mix of homes to market.”
The Accord’s 1.2 million homes national target was intended to slow house price growth by accommodating a rising population.
HIA economist Maurice Tapang.
Housing Industry Association (HIA) economist Maurice Tapang said with housing approvals already struggling to match government expectations they were expecting barely a million homes to be built in the Accord’s timeline, and hundreds of thousands to be lost to demolitions.
“In net terms, we think it will be closer to 800,000,” Mr Tapang said. “And that definitely isn’t enough to meet growing demand.”
Pointing to migration figures of about 250,000 a year, the economist said the nation needed to build 100,000 homes a year just to cover international population increases, and significantly more to address its existing shortfall if affordability was to be addressed in a meaningful way.
“If you have net housing supply increase of 800,000 over five years, that’s 160,000 a year,” Mr Tapang said.
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