The priciest streets in Brisbane’s most expensive suburbs – and the cheapest

3 hours ago 3

Some of Brisbane’s most elite suburbs are hiding million-dollar discounts in plain sight, with new data revealing property values can vary by a few million just one street apart.

Homes perched on wide streets with a view or facing north can be worth up to four times more than a house on a main street or in a built-up precinct scarcely 100 metres away.

In New Farm, an average house in one of the priciest streets – such as Oxlade Drive – will set you back an average of about $4 million. But just a few blocks away on its cheapest, near Howard Smith Wharves, the average house value is just a touch over a $1 million.

The granular data, from Cotality – formerly CoreLogic – reveals how far price points can fluctuate within a single postcode, with Ascot, New Farm, Hawthorne and Robertson boasting some of the biggest internal price gaps.

In New Farm, the SA1 pocket encompassing Oxlade Drive, Brunswick Street and Lower Bowen Terrace is the suburb’s priciest patch, with houses boasting a median value of $3,984,862. Nearby, around Refinery Parade, Welsby Street and Hollins Crescent, the median house value is just over $3.551 million.

The discrepancy swells further when you factor in units, with the suburb’s cheapest patch – around Villiers and Hawthorne streets – boasting a median unit value of just $636,730.

In Ascot, houses in the most expensive SA1 – including Mayfield, Dennison, Henry and Yabba streets – have a median house value of $3,384,341. But just a few hundred metres away near Ascot train station and around McGill Avenue, you can bag a house for a third of the price, with values sitting at $1,140,747.

Cotality’s head of Australian research Eliza Owen said the data revealed the nuance behind market dynamics and challenged assumptions about affordability in prestige suburbs.

“Just because a median value says one thing you don’t have to write off a suburb entirely. You have house ranges from $4 million then units at $640,000 – it gives us some nice perspective,” she said.

“Big factors influencing the pricier streets are better school catchments – particularly for good state schools which attract a premium – and the quality and exclusivity of homes set on big blocks. If you can get nice views and a nice aspect, that also contributes.”

New Farm is one of Brisbane’s priciest suburbs.

She said proximity to rail lines or increased housing density also explained lower-value pockets in blue-chip postcodes.

While prices can vary, Owen said brand-name suburbs like Ascot tended to carry a “halo effect”.

“When you live there, you’re definitely benefiting from proximity to employment hubs, transport, and nightlife – all properties can benefit,” she said.

“In New Farm and Ascot you really see the extremes. It’s much cheaper to buy in the unit segment, and that’s a trend we’ve seen before when comparing houses and units in prestige areas.

“It also highlights the benefit of having diversity of housing stock – it invites more diversity into a suburb.”

Owen said other suburbs with a wide range in property values included Gumdale, though the area’s mix of acreage homes skewed the numbers.

Houses in Gumdale’s most expensive pocket – including Formosa and Grassdale roads near Gumdale State School – carried a median value of $3,135,979. But in the more densely developed pockets of Tanglewood, Wattle Place, Brokenwood Circuit and Gumtree Court, the median price was $1,440,109 – less than half.

Ray White Collective CEO and co-partner Haesley Cush said while house prices had soared in New Farm and Ascot over a decade, the suburbs still offered relative entry points.

“In New Farm, the most prestigious pockets are typically around Oxlade Drive and Maxwell Street – and they’re either close to the river or with top views,” he said.

“In Ascot, one of the suburb’s most expensive and iconic streets remains Sutherland Avenue – and that’s just because of the quality of the homes.

“New Farm is eclectic – like West End – in the sense that there’s such an array of housing. You’ve got record-breaking homes and then you’ve got public boarding houses. It’s a cultural melting pot and in that space you can still get entry-level apartments.”

Cush said beyond home quality and block sizes, wide streets and desirable school zones also attracted premiums – while streets affected by traffic, flooding or bordering cheaper suburbs typically sold for less.

“There are a number of suburbs in Brisbane where even different sides of the street can see big changes,” he said.

“But the problem when house-hunting through digital portals is they’re just listed by suburb – not a street.”

He said Ascot and Hamilton were examples of where prices could fluctuate within a 100-metre radius.

“Sutherland Avenue is one of those precincts. At one end is a small block of units – the actual address is 11 Beatrice Terrace. The last one-bedroom unit there sold for $550,000,” he said.

“In the same year, a glorious property on the same stretch sold for $23 million. That’s 41 times the price.”

He added that Sutherland Avenue’s value wasn’t about its sweeping views, but rather the real estate.

The gap between house and unit values is even starker in Robertson, where the suburb’s best streets boast multimillion-dollar homes, while older townhouses just one street away still sell for under $600,000.

Cotality data shows the most expensive SA1 – around Harahan Street – has a median house value of $2,402,610. Just across the road, the cheapest SA1 – near Robertson State Primary School – is filled with older townhouses and units that boast a median value of just $559,808.

LJ Hooker Property Partners agent Alex Fan said streets like Davros and Janda were also among some of the most prized among buyers – boasting large blocks, prized north-south orientation, and proximity to shops, schools and transport.

“Janda Street is definitely one of our top streets,” he said.

“We recently sold 23 Janda Street, which was a very dated, 47-year-old home, for $2.51 million.”