Is Brisbane or Gosford (NSW) a good choice at the moment?

Another crazy weekend in Sydney...while I reside in Sydney and believe there are still some room to go, I start to wondering whether other area provide better value in terms of capital gain over mid term (2-5 years)? I'm not too sure about the affordability issue and whether some hot areas has already priced in growth for future years.

One area comes to mind is Brisbane. A lot people (incl on somersoft forum) say they typically lag sydney for growth, therefore it's a right time to enter. Not being in Brisbane recently, I'm wondering whether the ripple effect is the only factor at play, or there are other fundamental economic drive aligning in the right direction?

Another proposition might be Gosford NSW, which is about 1 hr drive from Sydney CBD or 45 mins from Hornsby. It got train line, hospital and local facilities, and commuting time to sydney is barely tolerable - as of now it seem to be an choice of retirees, but if sydney keep soaring maybe ppl will start to moving even further away?

Ok, the cons: for Brisbane, I think in last cycle quite some investor got burnt by QLD property, so this might deter ppl from entering, also for ppl who bought at last peak, they might sell once price are at their break even and this lead to more stock on market and selling pressure. Also in terms of ripples effect, it seems true that Sydney lead the boom while other cities follows, but I'm not too sure what happens when sydney start to cool? Do other city continue to boom or do they generally soften as well.
For Gosford, I think there are some level of state gov infrastracture planning there, but not as big as the 3 major project in NSW: northwest, southwest raillink and Westconnex. It seems the upper north and hornsby area missing out from last state budget, and there is no mentioning of F3 extension - so the commuting time to sydney won't be improved in the short-mid term I guess.

Here's my 2c. Not sure I'm on the right thinking process since I'm fairly new to IP. Please share you opinion and any comments appreciated:)
 
Another crazy weekend in Sydney...while I reside in Sydney and believe there are still some room to go, I start to wondering whether other area provide better value in terms of capital gain over mid term (2-5 years)? I'm not too sure about the affordability issue and whether some hot areas has already priced in growth for future years.

One area comes to mind is Brisbane. A lot people (incl on somersoft forum) say they typically lag sydney for growth, therefore it's a right time to enter. Not being in Brisbane recently, I'm wondering whether the ripple effect is the only factor at play, or there are other fundamental economic drive aligning in the right direction?

Another proposition might be Gosford NSW, which is about 1 hr drive from Sydney CBD or 45 mins from Hornsby. It got train line, hospital and local facilities, and commuting time to sydney is barely tolerable - as of now it seem to be an choice of retirees, but if sydney keep soaring maybe ppl will start to moving even further away?

Ok, the cons: for Brisbane, I think in last cycle quite some investor got burnt by QLD property, so this might deter ppl from entering, also for ppl who bought at last peak, they might sell once price are at their break even and this lead to more stock on market and selling pressure. Also in terms of ripples effect, it seems true that Sydney lead the boom while other cities follows, but I'm not too sure what happens when sydney start to cool? Do other city continue to boom or do they generally soften as well.
For Gosford, I think there are some level of state gov infrastracture planning there, but not as big as the 3 major project in NSW: northwest, southwest raillink and Westconnex. It seems the upper north and hornsby area missing out from last state budget, and there is no mentioning of F3 extension - so the commuting time to sydney won't be improved in the short-mid term I guess.

Here's my 2c. Not sure I'm on the right thinking process since I'm fairly new to IP. Please share you opinion and any comments appreciated:)

Id pick the Brisbane option vs Gosford. But not just anywhere in Brisbane. Id pick close to the CBD- if you are close to where the jobs and economic growth is, you should be fine.
Brisbane is an emerging city- and yes it will lag Sydney and Melbourne. Its trying to be a Melbourne, and with the current aggressiveness of the premier, it looks like it will get there [ and thus Melbourne prices] in about 10-15 years time, so you need to hold onto property for about that time not 3-5 years.
Overall, Brisbane has good well diversified fundamentals and its poised for a higher growth. This is mainly cyclical. Rewind a few years back when Gillard and swan were running the show and they were talking about this being a 2 speed economy with mining states doing well and everyone else in the doldrums....cycle has moved and now its the opposite. Wont be long till the cycle eventually moves again. What I like about Brisbane , unlike perth to a degree, is that the govt knows that they cant be pinned so heavily on mining and is trying to make a transition to increased growth in other non-resource based sectors.
 
Id pick the Brisbane option vs Gosford. But not just anywhere in Brisbane. Id pick close to the CBD- if you are close to where the jobs and economic growth is, you should be fine.
Brisbane is an emerging city- and yes it will lag Sydney and Melbourne. Its trying to be a Melbourne, and with the current aggressiveness of the premier, it looks like it will get there [ and thus Melbourne prices] in about 10-15 years time, so you need to hold onto property for about that time not 3-5 years.
Overall, Brisbane has good well diversified fundamentals and its poised for a higher growth. This is mainly cyclical. Rewind a few years back when Gillard and swan were running the show and they were talking about this being a 2 speed economy with mining states doing well and everyone else in the doldrums....cycle has moved and now its the opposite. Wont be long till the cycle eventually moves again. What I like about Brisbane , unlike perth to a degree, is that the govt knows that they cant be pinned so heavily on mining and is trying to make a transition to increased growth in other non-resource based sectors.


would a house around 10-15km from CBD, or a unit near CBD (say south bank, fortitute valley) makes more sense? It seems near CBD there isn't too much detached house stock. gross yield for CBD fringe apt seems to be ok but strata can be a pain.
Another concern for Brisbane apt is whether it will repeat melboune's inner apt story: massive over supply hinders growth and rental.There seems to be quite a lot apartment around the Brisbane showground area. What do you think?
 
I have to admit that Brissy has not been on my radar until very recently, so apart from recalling many prediction, I was not too sure about the fundamental drives. For sydney I can see these, being population growth incl migrant inflow, lack of housing stock, massive state gov spending on infrastructure (the spending benefit the people who live there and therefore directly increase the property value), and also that fact state gov start to making planning rules that sometimes override council's (eg, the Affordable Rental Housing SEPP) means state gov is serious about the upcoming urban transformation.

Not familiar with Brissy I wasn't too sure about all this. Jaguar Driver did mention an aggressive stance by QLD gov. Could someone please elaborate on that?
 
would a house around 10-15km from CBD, or a unit near CBD (say south bank, fortitute valley) makes more sense? It seems near CBD there isn't too much detached house stock. gross yield for CBD fringe apt seems to be ok but strata can be a pain.
Another concern for Brisbane apt is whether it will repeat melboune's inner apt story: massive over supply hinders growth and rental.There seems to be quite a lot apartment around the Brisbane showground area. What do you think?

I too would be careful in the inner city [ southbank etc]. id look at something a bit further out than inner city- not necessarily saying house+land is the best- as they are often further out, depending on budget of course; even a townhouse or villa will do- just needs to be well located, some land will definitely be a huge plus. Id try and stick around 3-12km of the cbd or so.

Regarding your question on the state govt plans- you can see all that online-too much to list here. In short, the premier has ambitious plans to redevelop a fair chunk of Brisbane with new developments [ commercial and residential], expanded transport such as the underground bus n train, expanding the airport,new skyscrapers being built, attracting hotel chains, and so on.
 
I've said this in other posts before but not all units are the same. Just because there's a lot of new high rise complexes being put up doesn't mean that the established apartments in the low maintenance 6-8 packs would be affected.

Same thing happened in Melbourne the last few years, lots of new apartments being put up in the CBD but a solid and boring 1970s brick unit in prahran, Richmond etc keeps chugging along capital gains wise.
 
Hi totaro, the northconnex tunnel under pennant hills rd will link the f3 to the m2. There is heaps on the Internet about it and its fully funded ( public and private) Good luck with your property search. Cheers Ali
 
would a house around 10-15km from CBD, or a unit near CBD (say south bank, fortitute valley) makes more sense? What do you think?

Personally I would NOT buy a unit in Brisbane in the cbd. yes, even those boutique buildings that would have decent growth in Sydney, however I believe for Brisbane, BEST chance to get most CG is in its housing market, 7-10km from the cbd.

3-4 bedrooms, nothing brand new, something you can add value to, about 600sqm 550-600k. More likely will be above 550k. 6-8 months ago 550k was possible but now its harder.

5 months ago I managed to buy 8km from the cbd, 945sqm :eek: for 640k AND the land can be subdivided. The REA had no clue what she was doing, none. (God I love em) currently renting for 590/week. Now 550-600 sqm houses (in decent condition) are selling above 650k-800plus with NO subdividing potential.

If your development inclined, then it could be a good place to try and get some subdividable/lmr sites. But its getting much harder now.
 
Last edited:
Personally I would NOT buy a unit in Brisbane in the cbd. yes, even those boutique buildings that would have decent growth in Sydney, however I believe for Brisbane, BEST chance to get most CG is in its housing market, 7-10km from the cbd.

3-4 bedrooms, nothing brand new, something you can add value to, about 600sqm 550-600k. More likely will be above 550k. 6-8 months ago 550k was possible but now its harder.

5 months ago I managed to buy 8km from the cbd, 945sqm :eek: for 640k AND the land can be subdivided. The REA had no clue what she was doing, none. (God I love em) currently renting for 590/week. Now 550-600 sqm houses (in decent condition) are selling above 650k-800plus with NO subdividing potential.

If your development inclined, then it could be a good place to try and get some subdividable/lmr sites. But its getting much harder now.

Good find LeoT.
I'm not necessarily going to do the actual development, but if there's subvidable potential why not...not sure how things work in QLD but in Sydney sometime ppl just do the DA and flip the house with profit

Any particular suburb to start off my searches?
 
would Fortitude Valley be a good choice, for its close distance to CBD and the Showground? Seems like a trendy suburb, but also there seems to be a lot of high rise building going up.
 
Mate my personal opinion, stay away from too close to the CBD. Houses there will be above average price and not necessarily have better CG than ones say 8-10km from the CBD. And the yield will also be lower making it more NG than I would like.

When I was looking I researched Holland Park, Holland Park west, mount Gravatt, Upper mount Gravatt, Moorooka, Carina,..Pretty much 8-10 km radius around the cbd.

and MAKE SURE its not in a flood affected zone, ! :eek: Brisbane City Council interactive flood maps are easily accessible on their site and very useful.

However, if your REALLY looking to create a large enough portfolio to achieve your goals I strongly suggest you start buying books and reading and also develop your mindset. Otherwise, there's very little chance to achieve any real amazing goals with property or with anything really IMHO

Someone posted a great STICKY book list to read a few days ago.
 
Back
Top