The average residential land price in South-East Queensland has topped $1,000 per square metre for the first time as supply hits its lowest level in a decade, according to a sobering snapshot by RPM of the challenges facing the region’s property market.
Affordability constraints in Brisbane are flowing into regional areas, leading to a significant spike in land prices in markets outside of the Queensland capital, says RPM’s South-East Queensland Greenfield Market report for June.
The report has revealed that the problem is compounded by a weak supply pipeline with just over 8,000 vacant land lots registered across the region in the year to March 2025, with most growth areas running on less than a month’s stock.
The report warns that infrastructure and planning complexities are adding to the supply problem and, in worse news ahead for the sector, this is likely to be exacerbated by a shortage of trades resources being deployed to build Olympic Games infrastructure.
“The drop in land registrations comes at a time when population growth and buyer demand remain pressing, leading to a surge in prices over the past year,” said Clinton Trezise, RPM’s Managing Director for Queensland and New South Wales.
“This has pushed property prices beyond the grasp of many buyers, especially in Brisbane.”
The RPM report, which monitored 148 active projects comprising 85,000 lots across the region, found that most key regions, including Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast, saw year-on-year declines in lot registrations.
“Land developers report that they are struggling to get projects over the line due to infrastructure and planning complexities, leading to fewer active estates constraining land supply,” said Mr Trezise.
“This highlights a clear, critical need for faster planning approvals and infrastructure investment to unlock development-ready land and keep pace with future housing demand.”
Dwindling supply has led the average price of land in South-East Queensland to top $1,000 per square metre for the first time, a milestone that underscores the acuteness of the problem facing the region.
The average price of land at $1,012 per square metre is up 17 per cent for the year, with the typically affordable local areas of Ipswich and Moreton Bay also breaching this benchmark for the first time.
While Ipswich land prices are up 33 per cent to $1,086 per square metre and Moreton Bay 14 per cent to $1,100 per square metre, Toowoomba posted the biggest percentage gain over the past year, up 63 per cent to $603 per square metre.
Land in the Queensland capital is selling for an average of $1,623 per square metre – or about 60 per cent above the region’s average. This has boosted Brisbane LGA’s median land price by 13 per cent to $702,000 in the year to March, overtaking Melbourne as Australia’s second most expensive city behind Sydney for the first time.
“Despite this sharp rise, land in Brisbane is still considered fair value when compared to house prices; however, amid the undersupply that has been building in the market over many years, further upward pressure on price growth will continue,” said Mr Trezise.
Population growth continues to pile on the pressure with Queensland adding 102,756 new residents in 2024, up 1.9 per cent for the year. While it’s down from record highs achieved in 2023, growth remains well above the state’s long-term average of 76,986.
The RPM report notes that recent state government announcements, including the introduction of new Investigation Areas and a new Priority Development Area, have sharpened the focus for developers on South-East Queensland, including interstate developers looking to capitalise on the region’s sustained growth.
“The region’s strong population growth, paired with housing affordability concerns in inner-city suburbs, is pushing more buyers and developers towards greenfield estates,” said Mr Trezise.
“But unlocking supply is proving difficult with infrastructure limitations and planning delays slowing land delivery across key corridors.”
While land supply is lagging, so too are apartment developments, with the latest RPM South-East Queensland Apartments Report revealing 6,780 new apartments were approved in the past year, down 9 per cent from a year earlier.
“Apartment approvals have again fallen further away from the level needed to address the state’s housing shortage,” said Mr Trezise.
“While construction costs have increased 19 per cent over the past year, new apartment projects across the region continue to sell well, with much of this demand driven by downsizers – older Australians seeking low-maintenance living in lifestyle locations such as Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.”
Due to the high costs to develop apartments, new apartments are being developed in premium locations with a high level of design and luxurious inclusions, where an equivalent premium on price can be achieved to make the project feasible.
The RPM report says the increased focus on luxury apartments is widening the affordability gap for many buyers, highlighting an urgent need to accelerate land development.
“Despite initiatives by the state government to help facilitate this, we’re expecting housing supply in South-East Queensland to remain constrained for some time,” said Mr Trezise.
“Even as population growth begins to ease, the cumulative undersupply will take years to unwind.
“The path won’t only be about demand, because access to new or upgraded infrastructure, along with planning reforms are critical for unlocking more land for development.”
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