Queensland’s Top Suburbs for Rental Yield

Queensland has one of the strongest performing markets in Australia as of 2024. Both Brisbane and the rest of the state have seen huge gains since the start of 2023, for both houses and units. If you’re an investor looking for a positively geared property, read on to discover Queensland suburbs with high rental yields.

Queensland Property Investing in 2024

While overseas arrivals typically flock to Melbourne and Sydney, Queensland is now the premier destination for Australians moving interstate. In the 2023 financial year, the population of Greater Brisbane grew 3.1% and had the highest net internal migration of any capital, with 15,332 extra residents per the ABS. Meanwhile, the rest of the Sunshine State grew 2.2% - the highest regional growth of any state.

The Regional Movers Index, powered by CommBank and the Regional Australia Institute, found that Queensland boasted three of the top five regions for internal migration in 2023 - those being the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Fraser Coast. There’s no sign of this slowing down either, with the Department of State Development and Infrastructure projecting the population, currently at about 5.4 million, to reach between 6.4 and 8.27 million by 2046.

This has translated to performance in the property market. As of March 2024, the median house price in Brisbane was $909,988, up 15.9% annually and closing in on Melbourne for the second most expensive capital. Units in Brisbane rose 16.4% through the year to March to reach a median of $587,793.

In the rest of Queensland, the median house price is $625,849, the second highest of any state, while units sold for an average of $624,200, the nation’s highest. The Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, about an hour north and south of Brisbane respectively, are big contributors to the strength of regional Queensland.

These location spots aren’t going anywhere, and with population growth expected to remain strong long-term, Queensland property looks a solid bet.

Queensland rental yields in 2024

As of January '23, these were the average sale prices and asking rent for Queensland.

Source: CoreLogic. CoreLogic. Data reported to the period ending January 2023. Median values account for sales transactions over three months.

Compared to the other most populous states, Queensland rental yields are strong for both houses and units. In Queensland’s cities and rural areas, yields are stronger than in New South Wales and Victoria across the board. Amid the highly publicised Perth boom, Western Australia remains ahead; in metropolitan areas in WA, the median rents for both houses and units are very similar to Queensland, but with significantly cheaper prices.

Highest rental yields in Queensland (Houses)

Source: CoreLogic. Data reported to the period ending January 2024. Median values account for sales transactions over 12 months.

If you’ve read the equivalent articles we have for Victoria or New South Wales, you might be surprised to see how high the yields in this list are. Only the two highest median rental yields in Victoria and the top three in New South Wales had average rental yields for houses that would crack the Queensland top 25.

As tends to be the case, the majority of these suburbs are in rural areas. Three exceptions are Depot Hill, Rockhampton City and Mount Morgan, all in ‘Rocky’, about halfway between Brisbane and Townsville. Rockhampton is often called the beef capital of Australia, which highlights the prominence of farming in this list. Brandon, Ingham and Longreach are all also known for being major agricultural areas.

Mining is even more prominent. Five of these suburbs, including the top three, are located within the Bowen Basin, which contains the largest coal reserves in Australia. A further eight are in Mount Isa, where there are large mining operations for copper, lead, zinc and silver. Charters Towers and Cloncurry are other areas in the top 25 known for mining.

Centres for mining and farming tend to have strong rental demand relative to property prices as workers relocate temporarily to the area and leave once their project is complete. In some of these areas, there isn’t much in the way of infrastructure or amenities, so other areas might be more attractive to buy.

Highest rental yields in Queensland (Units)

Source: CoreLogic. Data reported to the period ending January 2024. Median values account for sales transactions over 12 months.

Queensland’s cities are much better represented in the highest rental yields for units. This is likely to be unsurprising for anyone who has ever been to rural Queensland: units aren’t exactly commonplace given the state is more than 1.85 million kilometres squared. Outside of the cities, there’s enough room to build houses. Townsville pops up in this list eleven times, while Brisbane, Mackay, Gladstone, Cairns and Rockhampton all also feature.

The beachside suburb of Bucasia, Mackay, is particularly eye catching. At 17.3%, Bucasia has the highest median rental yield for units in the entire nation, well clear of Baynton, WA in 2nd (15.9%). It’s not immediately clear why this is. It is a notable beach spot, with most of the area devoted to sugarcane, but that isn’t exactly unique in Northern Queensland.

Nevertheless, Bucasia residents have a clear preference towards renting when it comes to units. Rental listings spent an average of 18 days on the market before being snapped up in the 12 months to March '24 according to REA. Meanwhile, it took 59 days for the average listed unit in Bucasia to find a buyer.

"Queensland’s Top Suburbs for Rental Yield" was originally published on Savings.com.au and was republished with permission.