Brisbane riverfront property prices are surging
Riverfront homes now sell for six times the city median after recording a staggering 29 per cent price jump in one year, highlighting the premium high-end buyers will pay to secure a stake in Brisbane’s dwindling waterfront property.
Place Advisory’s Brisbane Riverfront Property Market Report revealed riverfront home sales in Brisbane averaged $5.8m after the city officially joined the “ultra-prime” club in 2024, recording its first two sales above $20m.
The report analysed the 12 months to October 2025, showing how scarcity and high-net-worth demand had reshaped real estate’s top end.
Hawthorne stood out as one of Australia’s strongest-performing waterfront suburbs, with recent sales averaging more than $12m, including two $20m-plus deals.
Other frontrunners Bulimba and Yeronga had average sale prices of $6.25m and $5.86m respectively.
This property at 17 Julius St, New Farm, set a new Brisbane home sale price record of $25m. Image supplied.
Sarah Hackett of Place New Farm said the findings reinforced the exclusivity of Brisbane’s blue-chip waterfront belt.
“Buyers know opportunities are incredibly limited, and when quality homes come to market, competition is immediate and decisive,” Ms Hackett said.
The agency had a swelling list of more than 9,000 buyers waiting to secure their slice of the wet stuff, she said, while just 76 detached house sales with river or water frontage were recorded in the 12 months to December 2025.
Rob and Meghan Gray owned the home for three years
The city’s residential record was shattered last month with a riverfront knockdown in New Farm changing hands for $25m.
The eye-watering sum was three times what owner Rob Gray, a local developer, had paid for the 688 sqm property just three years prior, with no improvements to it since.
Mr Gray said the site’s five-storey zoning contributed to the high sale.
The co-director of design and build firm Graya said he was already hunting for another riverfront site.
A newly built three-level just sold at 88 Wynnum Rd, Norman Park
“I genuinely think I am going to regret selling it, because when I look back at this in five, ten years’ time it will look like a cheap sale,” Mr Gray said.
“Even though now the sale looks so big, I still think there is so much more growth to come in inner-city riverfront blocks.
“I’ve been looking to acquire another one in the last year, and noone is willing to sell which really highlights just how scarce those protected view corridors and ridge lines really are.”
Sarah Hackett of Place Estate Agents
Ms Hackett said riverfront homes were attracting a very broad buyer pool, from local families upgrading long-term to interstate buyers who saw Brisbane as exceptional value compared to Sydney and Melbourne.
“There’s a confidence in this part of the market that hasn’t wavered. Even when broader conditions fluctuate, prestige riverfront homes continue to set their own benchmarks.
“Even both of my $20m-plus sales received competitive bidding. I have never seen such a tightly held 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 Brisbane’s inner-east river bends were marked by short campaigns and very high clearance rates.
Historically, waterfront properties attracted 80–120 per cent premiums over non-waterfront homes, with Brisbane’s riverfront now firmly in line with this elite category in company with Sydney Harbour and other coveted global markets.
“It is a given that people are attracted to living by the water, and particularly in Queensland being a state with an active, outdoor lifestyle we find buyers will always gravitate to waterfront properties when they come to auction,” Mr Nickerson said.
“In Brisbane, that means the river since you don’t have beachfront, so those properties do attract a lot of interest and the demand is heightened when they are close to amenities like cafes.”
Place Advisory’s Damian Hackett
Place Advisory’s Damian Hackett said no new vacant riverfront land sales were recorded in 2024, confirming the corridor was effectively built out.
“What’s driving resilience is scarcity. There is virtually no new detached riverfront supply coming online, and most future stock will only emerge through knockdown-rebuilds or complex redevelopment,” Mr Hackett said.
“Even if broader transaction volumes moderate, our data suggests pricing for high-quality riverfront homes is likely to remain resilient, supported by long-term demand and absolute land scarcity.”
Most buyers wanting a slice of riverfront will have to settle for an apartment. This one on Queen St went for $2.175m
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The supply pipeline for true riverfront remained constrained, with rising construction costs and funding hurdles slowing project timelines.
New stock would largely be delivered via capital-intensive infill redevelopment, including large-scale apartment projects at Newstead and Bulimba Barracks.
“With Brisbane house prices up strongly over 2025 and the city tracking towards the 2032 Olympic Games, the underlying drivers of prestige riverfront demand remain in place: interstate migration, upgrading local households, and high-net-worth buyers consolidating in scarce absolute frontage,” Mr Hackett said.
This three-bedroom, two-bathroom property recently sold at Kenmore
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