There's a version of this post where we just share the highlights reel. A few "Bought By Us" stickers, a couple of glowing reviews, and a "what a year it's been!" caption.
That's not this post.
The first five months of 2026 have been genuinely interesting — for Brisbane, for Bayside, for investors, and for every family who trusted us to find the right home in one of the most competitive markets this city has ever seen. It deserves more than a highlight reel.
Brisbane in 2026: Still Moving, Still Record Highs
Brisbane entered 2026 off the back of a remarkable 2025 — and hasn't slowed down. January typically sees markets idle. Not this year. From the first week of January, buyer activity came out of the gate hard, with quality listings snapped up by buyers who had been waiting since before Christmas.
The numbers back that up. Cotality's January read showed Brisbane dwelling values up 1.6% for the month, 5.1% over the quarter, and 15.7% over the year — median dwelling value sitting at $1,054,555. All at record highs.
February held the line with another 1.7% monthly gain. March accelerated to 1.8%, pushing annual growth to 19.0% and the median to $1,101,151. By April, monthly growth moderated slightly to 1.2% — still amongst the strongest of any capital city — with the median reaching $1,116,180 and annual growth at 19.7%.
For context: Sydney and Melbourne both recorded monthly declines of 0.6% in April. Brisbane continued to advance. This is not a uniform national story. This is a city doing something different.
The median house value has now surpassed $1.2 million, with units at $865,000. The fundamentals driving this are real: population growth (Greater Brisbane added 58,200 residents in 2024–25), a chronic supply deficit, elevated construction costs, and the long runway of infrastructure investment ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
Bayside: Our Backyard Is Still One of the Best Addresses in Brisbane
We are unashamedly Bayside people. We live here. We work here. And the numbers continue to back us.
Wynnum's median house price has climbed to approximately $1.4–1.5 million in 2026, with typical values tracked above $1.5 million by some data providers. Manly — tightly held, perennially in demand — has surged to a median above $1.6 million. Both suburbs have more than doubled in value over five years. Brisbane overall has risen 84% over five years and 119.5% over a decade per Cotality's April 2026 data.
Wynnum's urban renewal is accelerating. Manly remains one of the most tightly held pockets in the city. Birkdale, Lota and Wellington Point continue to attract buyers who want the lifestyle without the Manly price tag — and are finding that window closing too.
Good stock is tightening. Properties that tick every box — solid bones, sensible floor plan, walkability, honest land content — are moving quickly and competitively. The gap between what buyers want and what's available has never felt wider. This is exactly the environment where having someone in your corner who knows the streets, the agents, and which properties are worth fighting for makes all the difference.
What We've Been Doing Through All of This
The first five months of 2026 have kept us busy in the best possible way.
We've secured forever homes for families — the kind of purchase that takes years of dreaming and one very important decision: who do you trust to get it right? Families came to us nervous and overwhelmed. They left with keys in hand and the confidence they paid a fair price for the right property.
We've helped investors enter the market strategically — not reactively. First-time investors building long-term wealth, not just "getting into property" and hoping for the best. We've walked them through suburbs, shortlisted genuine opportunities, negotiated hard, and helped them understand exactly what they were buying and why.
And we've seen something that genuinely fills us with pride: returning clients, and referrals from people who trust us enough to send their friends and family our way. When a client from eighteen months ago picks up the phone again — and a week later their sister calls — that tells us everything.
This is a relationship business. Always has been. Always will be.
The CGT Conversation — And Why It's Only Half the Story
The 2026–27 Federal Budget sent a ripple through investor circles: changes to negative gearing and the CGT discount for established residential property.
From 1 July 2027, negative gearing will be limited to new builds for properties purchased after Budget night (12 May 2026). Investors buying established property after that date won't be able to offset rental losses against other income. On CGT, instead of the current 50% discount, investors will be taxed on their real capital gain — adjusted for inflation — from 1 July 2027.
The carve-outs matter. Properties already held or under contract before Budget night are grandfathered. New builds retain access to both negative gearing and the 50% CGT discount. Super funds are exempt. Commercial property is unaffected.
So yes — for certain investors buying certain established properties, the tax equation has changed. Get proper advice from a qualified accountant.
But here's what we'd push back on: if the only reason you're buying an investment property is the tax benefit, you're already playing a losing game.
Negative gearing is a cash flow management tool, not an investment strategy. Properties build wealth because they're in the right location, with the right fundamentals, purchased at the right price, and held long enough for compounding growth to do its work. Tax efficiency is a nice tailwind. It was never the engine.
The investors we've watched build genuine wealth weren't chasing tax breaks. They were chasing well-located assets in supply-constrained markets with real owner-occupier demand — the kind that holds value in flat markets and accelerates in good ones. Bayside ticks every one of those boxes. The CGT changes are worth understanding. They are not a reason to sit on the sideline.
One More Thing We're Proud Of
In a market where commission conflicts and opaque pricing are the norm — we've stayed firmly in the other lane.
Ideal Buyers Agency operates on a flat fee model. No commission. No referral kickbacks to brokers, builders, or developers. Our fee is the same whether we buy you a $600,000 townhouse or a $1.8 million waterfront. We work exclusively for buyers — never the other side — and we've published our pricing on our website so anyone can see exactly what they're paying before they pick up the phone.
That's not common in this industry. It should be.
Buyers deserve to know what they're paying, what they're getting, and that the person negotiating on their behalf isn't quietly working toward a different outcome. That's the foundation Ideal Buyers Agency was built on.
Vendor Expectations Are Still High — But the Crowds Are Thinning
Here's something worth paying attention to if you're sitting on the fence.
Vendor price expectations haven't softened. Sellers who've watched their neighbours pocket extraordinary gains aren't suddenly discounting. But foot traffic at open homes? That's a different story.
We're seeing fewer bodies through the door across Bayside and broader Brisbane. Brisbane's most recent auction clearance rate came in at 48.8%, with 40 properties passed in — a signal that buyers are pushing back on vendor pricing as borrowing costs rise. Total listings have fallen 13.7% year-on-year, keeping supply thin, but the pool of active buyers has thinned too — partly affordability constraints, partly the uncertainty created by the Federal Budget and the rate environment.
That gap between vendor confidence and buyer activity is one of the most interesting windows in any property cycle. When fewer people are competing for the same property, your negotiating position improves. The motivated seller becomes more visible. The unrealistic one self-selects out. The buyer who shows up prepared, pre-approved, and ready to move — with a clear strategy — finds opportunities that simply don't exist in a frenzied market.
This isn't a prediction prices are about to fall. The fundamentals don't support that. But reduced competition at the pointy end of a strong market is not a warning sign for buyers. It's an opening.
Looking Ahead
The second half of 2026 will bring its own headlines — rate decisions, budget noise, commentary designed to panic or overcorrect. What won't change is the fundamentals driving this city: more people wanting to live in Brisbane than there are properties to house them, a coastal corridor that continues to punch above its weight, and a growing number of buyers who understand that time in the market — with the right property — is the real play.
We'll be here, doing the work.
If you're thinking about buying — a home, an investment, or anything in between — we'd love to have the conversation.
