Brisbane riverfront property prices are soaring
Riverfront homes are now selling for six times the city’s average price, following a staggering 29 per cent price increase in one year, underlining just how much luxury buyers will pay to gain a stake in Brisbane’s dwindling waterfront real estate.
Place Advisory’s Brisbane Riverfront Property Market Report found that riverfront home sales in Brisbane averaged $5.8 million after the city officially joined the “ultra-prime” club in 2024, recording the first two sales above $20 million.
The report analyzed the 12 months to October 2025 and showed how the scarcity and demand for high-net-worth properties had been reshaped.
Hawthorne stood out as one of Australia’s best-performing waterfront suburbs, with recent sales averaging more than $12 million, including two deals in excess of $20 million.
Other leaders Bulimba and Yeronga had average sales prices of $6.25 million and $5.86 million respectively.
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This property at 17 Julius St, New Farm, set a new price record for Brisbane home sales of $25 million. Image supplied.
Sarah Hackett from Place New Farm said the findings reinforced the exclusivity of Brisbane’s premier waterfront.
“Buyers know that options are incredibly limited, and when quality homes come onto the market, competition is immediate and decisive,” Hackett said.
The agency had a growing list of more than 9,000 buyers waiting to secure their share of the wet stuff, she said, with just 76 detached houses with river or water frontage sold in the 12 months to December 2025.
Rob and Meghan Gray owned the house for three years
The city’s housing construction record was shattered last month when New Farm changed hands for $25 million.
The eye-watering sum was three times what owner Rob Gray, a local developer, paid for the 688 sqm property just three years ago, with no improvements made since.
Mr Gray said the site’s five-storey zoning had contributed to the high sales.
The co-director of design and construction company Graya said he was already looking for another riverside location.
A newly built three storey just sold at 88 Wynnum Rd, Norman Park
“I really think I’m going to regret selling it because when I look back at this in five, 10 years, it’s going to look like a cheap sale,” Mr Gray said.
“Even though sales seem so great now, I still think there will be so much more growth in downtown riverfront blocks.
“I’ve been looking for a new one for the past year, but no one is willing to sell, which really highlights how scarce those protected view corridors and ridges really are.”
Sarah Hackett of Place Estate Agents
Ms Hackett said riverfront homes attracted a very broad range of buyers, from local families making long-term upgrades to interstate buyers who saw Brisbane as exceptional value compared to Sydney and Melbourne.
“There is a confidence in this part of the market that is not wavering. Even as broader conditions fluctuate, prestigious riverside homes continue to set their own benchmarks.
“Even my $20 million-plus turnover received competitive bidding. I have never seen such a tight market with such growing demand,” she said.
15 Laidlaw Pde, East Brisbane was sold following an auction campaign
Auctioneer Justin Nickerson of Apollo Auctions said properties along the river bends in Brisbane’s east were characterized by short campaigns and very high clearance rates.
Historically, waterfront properties have commanded an 80 to 120 percent premium over non-waterfront homes, with Brisbane’s riverfront now firmly in line with this elite category, along with Sydney Harbor and other coveted global markets.
“It is a given that people are attracted to waterfront living, and particularly as Queensland is a state with an active, outdoor lifestyle, we find that buyers will always be attracted to waterfront properties when they come to auction,” Nickerson said.
“In Brisbane that means the river because you don’t have a beach, so those properties attract a lot of interest and demand increases if they are close to amenities such as cafes.”
Damian Hackett from Place Advisory
Damian Hackett of Place Advisory said no new vacant land sales on the riverbank have been recorded in 2024, confirming that the corridor has been effectively built.
“What drives resilience is scarcity. Virtually no new vacant riverbank supply is coming online, and most future supply will only emerge through demolition-rebuild or complex redevelopment,” Mr Hackett said.
“Even as broader transaction volumes decline, our data suggests that prices for quality riverfront homes are likely to remain resilient, supported by long-term demand and absolute land scarcity.”
Most buyers who want a piece of riverfront will have to settle for an apartment. This one on Queen St went for $2.175 million
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The supply pipeline for the real riverfront remained limited as rising construction costs and financing hurdles slowed project completion times.
New supply would largely be delivered through capital-intensive infill redevelopment, including large-scale apartment projects at Newstead and Bulimba Barracks.
“With Brisbane house prices set to rise sharply in 2025 and the city heading towards the 2032 Olympics, the underlying drivers of demand for prestigious riverfronts remain: interstate migration, local household upgrading and high-net-worth buyers consolidating into a scarce absolute front,” Hackett said.
This three bedroom, two bathroom property recently sold in Kenmore
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