Brisbane homes rise by $135,900 in a year despite interest rate hike fears – realestate.com.au

Brisbane homeowners woke up $135,900 richer at the start of the new year, with average home values ​​growing more than twice as fast as Sydney’s and three times as fast as Melbourne’s, while regional markets were also sizzling.

Queensland’s capital led the eastern states with a 14.6 per cent annual jump to an average of $1.013 million in the latest PropTrack Home Price Index, released nationally on Monday – with shock trends emerging across the state.

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The latest results from the PropTrack Home Price Index show Brisbane is leading the way in growth on the east coast. Source: PropTrack.

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Brisbane units defied decades of conventional wisdom by outperforming houses, rising 18.3 per cent (up $125,500) compared to houses at 13.5 per cent (up $146,900). The unit’s outperformance signals a fundamental market shift in demand, driven by affordability, downsizing, interstate migrants and young professionals.

The shock results come after multiple rate cuts in 2025, but REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty expects price growth to continue into 2026 despite the threat of rate hikes by the Reserve Bank.

“Housing prices are forecast to reach new highs in 2026,” she said.

Queensland regions have shown an even more unusual market trend, with the traditional price difference between houses and units falling to just $21,000 – a fraction of the typical 30 to 40 per cent discount units used compared to houses.

Overall, regional homeowners became $99,800 richer over the past year, with the median at $797,000, while units rose $99,100 to $776,000 – a convergence that points to continued acute undersupply of both property types in regional markets. Regional units are rising faster than houses (13.7 percent vs. 12.7 percent) and are on track to level out by 2026.

Overall, Queensland regions saw all homes increase by 13 per cent annually, or $100,000 in just 12 months, to an average of $790,000.

Brisbane and Perth were the best performing capital cities year-on-year, with Perth leading the way with growth of 17.2 percent, followed by Brisbane (+14.6 percent). Source: PropTrack

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Ms Flaherty expected three factors to drive price growth in 2026, even despite interest rate hikes.

“Price growth in 2025 was supported by three rate cuts. No further cuts are expected this year, and there is a possibility that rates will rise if inflation persists,” she said.

“However, these headwinds are being countered by a limited supply of new homes and sustained demand. The Australian government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme is also likely to support price growth by boosting demand, particularly at the more affordable end of the market.”

The latest figures show that only Perth saw a higher level of growth nationally than Brisbane (17.2 per cent), with Sydney accounting for just 6.4 per cent and Melbourne 4.5 per cent.

But the monthly momentum figures show a growing divergence: Brisbane and Perth continued to rise in December (both up 0.5 per cent), while Sydney and Melbourne both fell 0.3 per cent.

The monthly data showed Adelaide led all capital cities with growth of 0.8 per cent, while Darwin was flat and Canberra fell 0.2 per cent.

“Just as Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide were the best performing capital markets last year, their respective regional markets have also led growth regionally,” Ms Flaherty said.