The Cheapest Suburbs in Brisbane

Earlier this year, CoreLogic and Aussie Home Loans released a list of the 20 most affordable suburbs in Brisbane. It would seem that if you’re willing to venture just about 100 km from the Brisbane CBD, you’d be able to find property at prices that are highly competitive.

With the property market in Queensland relatively stable over the past few years, the hamlets located around Brisbane are offering first-time buyers a golden opportunity to acquire property within the vicinity of the city, at prices that are a far cry from what you’d pay in Brisbane itself.

Here are the 10 most affordable suburbs in Brisbane in 2019.

1) Russell Island

95% of Moreton Island is national park, and Moreton Bay’s biggest area stretches 37 kilometres, with the widest point of the island measuring 8 km. The island is located 40 km offshore from Brisbane, requiring a two-hour ferry ride from the mainland. This truly is island living at its most authentic, with Moreton Island consisting mostly of sand. This makes it 4WD territory, although the island can be navigated rather easily with vehicles made for the surface.

Moreton Island is made up of four small settlements: Tangalooma (where the main access point to the island is located), Bulwer, Cowan Cowan and Kooringal.

2,473 residents call Moreton Island home, and various amenities and services make this area self-sufficient. Medical and emergency services, a library, a recreational complex and car hire services, together with various shops, restaurants, a chemist and a petrol station provide most of what residents may need.

Russel Island, the biggest of the four bay islands located in Moreton Bay, is especially popular for bushwalking, and the island is home to breathtaking native vegetation – among others, banksia woodland, wildflowers, wet heath, orange mangroves and eucalypt forest – and birdlife.

CoreLogic and Aussie Home Loans marked Russel Island as one of the cheapest suburbs in Brisbane, with median house prices at $214,991.

2) Toogoolawah

Located just 106 km north-west of Brisbane, Toogoolawah is home to a population of 1,279, as of the 2016 census. Formerly a town with a lively and active dairying industry, Toogoolawah is now popular among parachuting and gliding enthusiasts, as well as people with a taste for history.

Despite Toogoolawah’s relatively close proximity to the Brisbane CBD, houses are competitively priced at a median cost of $220,605.

3) Laidley

The soil is fertile in Laidley, making it the ideal location for dairying, cotton, vegetable growing and mixed farming – these also making up the main industry in Laidley today. It’s not surprising, then, that Laidley is also known as the “Country Garden of Queensland”.

Located 84 km west of Brisbane, this little historic hamlet has a population of just over 3,500, and three schools are in operation in the town. One of the many historical feathers in Laidley’s hat is the imposing and impressive Das Neumann Haus. This colonial weatherboard building was built in 1893 by Hermann Neumann, a Prussian emigrant who worked as a carpenter and furniture maker. Also visit the Laidley Pioneer Village Museum to learn more about the way things used to be in the town centuries ago.

Laidley is one of the cheapest suburbs in Brisbane to buy a house, and the median house price is $233,853.

4) Lamb Island

95% of Moreton Island is national park, and Moreton Bay’s biggest area stretches 37 kilometres, with the widest point of the island measuring 8 km. The island is located 40 km offshore from Brisbane, requiring a two-hour ferry ride from the mainland. This truly is island living at its most authentic, with Moreton Island consisting mostly of sand. This makes it 4WD territory, although the island can be navigated rather easily with vehicles made for the surface.

Moreton Island is made up of four small settlements: Tangalooma (where the main access point to the island is located), Bulwer, Cowan Cowan and Kooringal.

2,473 residents call Moreton Island home, and various amenities and services make this area self-sufficient. Medical and emergency services, a library, a recreational complex and car hire services, together with various shops, restaurants, a chemist and a petrol station provide most of what residents may need.

Just 1.5 km by 1.5 km across, Lamb Island is one of the four small islands in Moreton Bay, and has also been listed one of the cheapest suburbs in Brisbane to buy a house in. Median house prices are at $234,995.

5) Esk

100 km north-west of Brisbane, lay the small historical village of Esk. Its name may be short, but you’ll spend a long time admiring the many historical buildings in this town. Among them, the town beautifully showcases the late 19^th-century vernacular Queensland architecture. Imposing timber structures line most of the main street, and the Bellevue Homestead, which once hosted King Edward the VIII, then still the Prince of Wales, should also interest history buffs.

1,698 people live in Esk today, with one primary school providing for the education of local children. Lake Wivenhoe and Lake Somerset are excellent for water-based recreational activities like water-skiing, canoeing, fishing and boating.

The property in Esk, together with its awesome sights and activities, will have you looking to move there before you know – the median house price in Esk is just $237,409.

6) Macleay Island

95% of Moreton Island is national park, and Moreton Bay’s biggest area stretches 37 kilometres, with the widest point of the island measuring 8 km. The island is located 40 km offshore from Brisbane, requiring a two-hour ferry ride from the mainland. This truly is island living at its most authentic, with Moreton Island consisting mostly of sand. This makes it 4WD territory, although the island can be navigated rather easily with vehicles made for the surface.

Moreton Island is made up of four small settlements: Tangalooma (where the main access point to the island is located), Bulwer, Cowan Cowan and Kooringal.

2,473 residents call Moreton Island home, and various amenities and services make this area self-sufficient. Medical and emergency services, a library, a recreational complex and car hire services, together with various shops, restaurants, a chemist and a petrol station provide most of what residents may need.

One of the four small islands that form Moreton Bay, Macleay Island is 6.5 km long and 4 km wide. With a golf course, boating club and arts complex, together with several beaches suitable for swimming and fishing, houses on Macleay are a steal at a median price of just $244,069.

7) Kilcoy

99 km north-west of Brisbane, Kilcoy – a Gaelic word meaning “nook of the wood” – is the home of 1,898 residents and one Yowie. Not well known by most Australians, there is even a statue of this unusual mythical creature in the town. The 1988 brochure of the town described the Yowie as “Australia’s equivalent of the Himalayan Yetie (sic) or America’s Big Foot and it appears in Aboriginal folk lore dating back thousands of years”, with official statistics showing that “over 3,000 sightings were reported throughout Australia between 1975 and 1979”.

The local Hall of History documents the storied past of this shire, and the Courthouse Art Gallery features works by local artists, and hosts a new exhibition every three months.

Kilcoy is also listed as one of the cheapest of Brisbane’s suburbs to buy property in, with a median house price of $251,388.

8) Riverview

The 2016 Australian census recorded a population of 3,073 in Riverview, and this suburb is located within the City of Ipswich in Queensland. Riverview is just 31 km from the Brisbane CBD, making it ideal for a quick commute.

It is also considered one of the most affordable suburbs in Brisbane, with a median house price of $256,787. 

9) Forest Hill

Part of the locality of the Lockyer Valley Region in South East, Queensland, Forest Hill has a tiny population of 472, and is approximately 83 km west of Brisbane.

A number of heritage-listed sites can be seen in the town, including the Forest Hill State School, the Forest Hill War Memorial and the Lockyer and Forest Hill Hotels.

The average price of a home in Forest Hill is just $257,495.

10) Dinmore

Another suburb in the City of Ipswich, Dinmore’s population is just 875. This small suburb is bordered by the Warrego Highway, the Cunningham Highway and the Ipswich Motorway and is just 32 km from the Brisbane CBD.

Despite its close proximity to the city, Dinmore still feels very much like a rural suburb, and green spaces and parks are scattered around the area.

Housing in Dinmore is highly affordable, compared to the high prices of property in Brisbane, and the median house price here stands at $259,481.

Conclusion

Looking to buy property in one of the most affordable suburbs in Brisbane? Perfect Agent recommends a list of highly skilled, trained and experienced real estate agents that do business all across Australia. Let an agent that understands smaller towns advise you on a property that takes small-town living to the next level. Contact Perfect Agent today.