‘Everything is going up but our wages’: frontline workers face impossible choice – realestate.com.au

For Garrett and Vicky McDuling, the idea of ​​home ownership in Brisbane has shifted from ambition to urgency.

The couple are both in their 40s and are raising two children – Grace, 6, and Cooper, 15 – while working in essential frontline roles: Garrett as a teacher, Vicky as a palliative care nurse.

They currently rent in Victoria Point, where the average house price is now just over $1 million, average weekly mortgage payments are around $1,000 and house rent averages $750 per week.

“It feels like everything is going up except our wages,” Mr. McDuling said. “Our salaries are not increasing at the rate of the cost of living, and they are certainly not keeping pace with rent.”

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The couple, originally from Brisbane, previously owned property in Perth and bought it for around $700,000 – a house now worth almost $2 million.

“The plan was always to return to Brisbane,” McDuling said. “But we didn’t know where we wanted to settle, so we rented in different areas to get a feel for it – places similar to what we’d had in Perth.”

That search included suburbs like Thornlands, but the experience quickly became financially untenable. “Every six months the rent just kept going up,” he said.

“We used to pay almost a thousand dollars a week. Now we live in a smaller house – deliberately downsized – so we can try to save again.”

Garrett McDuling and children, Grace, 6, and Cooper, 15, who are renting but want to buy. Photo: Steve Pohlner.

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Covid-era moves, the cost of moving, the cost of schooling and the cost of daily living have eroded the deposit they had managed to build up. Renting became the only viable option, but not a comfortable option.

“We are not like younger people who can live with their families (while we save),” he said. “We can’t rent forever. We’re paying someone else’s mortgage instead of our own.”

The couple know buying in Victoria Point is out of reach, so they are now looking further afield, with suburbs such as Redland Bay and Mount Cotton emerging as more realistic options.

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Their demands are practical, not ambitious. “It has to be a house,” Mr. McDuling said. “We know we can’t afford a swimming pool, but we want a piece of land, some space to build or improve later. This has to be our forever home this time.”

Logistics are also important. Their son attends John Paul College, Garrett teaches in Cleveland and stability is the priority now.

Their story reflects a broader shift happening across Queensland. A new analysis from comparison site Finder shows that there are still about 300 suburbs in the state where it is cheaper to own a home than to rent.

Lisa Evans, purchasing agent of Verve Property. Image supplied.

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However, most of these areas are regional or rural, with only a small number of Brisbane suburbs now offering lower mortgage repayments than average rental prices.

At the same time, average residential rent in Brisbane has risen to a record $670 per week, according to PropTrack.

Buying agent Lisa Evans of Vervé Property describes renting in Brisbane as “a perpetual tax on future wealth”.

Even after taking into account ‘holding costs’ such as rates and legal entities, Ms Evans said a homeowner’s net worth was growing six figures faster than that of a renter in some suburbs.

“For years, the safe advice in Brisbane was ‘rent and wait’ for a market correction, but in 2026 that strategy has become an expensive mistake,” Evans said.

“The real divide in Brisbane today is not between the suburbs, but between those who own the title and those who fund it.

“In a market with a vacancy rate of 0.7 percent, ownership is not just a lifestyle choice, it is a strategic hedge against a rental market that effectively ‘inflation-proofs’ landlords while simultaneously pricing out tenants.”