Real estate never really goes down. If there’s a suburb you’re in love with, there’s nothing silly about buying there.

That being said, some suburbs have a track record for delivering a better financial yield than others. And if financial return is important to you, you’ve come to the right place – because we’re going to evaluate the best suburbs to buy in Brisbane.

Please keep in mind that while we’ve done a lot of research and consulted some experts, we aren’t property/financial advisors. Before making any super-serious decisions, it’s worth consulting your own trusted advisor.

If we’re being completely honest, last year’s data was a bit of a write-off. The election caused more than the average drop in consumer confidence – even the banks were playing a bit timid.

So going off financial return isn’t the best way to measure success in 2019. What we can do is study the highest occupancy rates in areas regularly known to be “growth suburbs”.

And from that data, 3 suburbs take the cake:

• Morningside (79% occupancy, median 3-room house of $642k)
• West End (77% occupancy, median 3-room unit of $960k)
• Paddington (75% occupancy, media 3-room house of $906k).

It’s pretty rare you’ll ever find a list of “best suburbs in Brisbane to buy” that doesn’t include these 3.

NAB’s Residential Property Survey (released late last year) forecasted what growth could be expected for houses and units across Brisbane. For houses, albeit small, there is growth forecast for 2020 (0.2%).

For units, the news isn’t as good – predicting a reasonably scary loss (-1.3%). And even that’s an improvement on 2019, which saw a -2.2% decrease in unit prices.

But the moral of the story is that aside from weird seasonal variations, houses seem less likely to drop in value.

Your best bets

• Mount Gravatt – House prices that are growing (but aren’t out of control), a great public transport network, and plenty of local luxuries. It ticks just about every box.
• Cannon Hill – It’s one of those suburbs that never gets recognised in these lists, which seems silly. It’s got a blend of good schools, great public transport, and it’s far cheaper to enter than most other suburbs in Brisbane’s middle ring.
• Wilston – The north side’s Cannon Hill – this inner-city suburb has the peace and tranquillity of something far further away. Most streets will lead you to another trendy café, and when you couple that with a Northern Busway and train line, it’s the working professional’s dream.

The okay options

• Highgate Hill – It’s probably the most liveable suburb on this list, but it’s occupied mostly by units. For home buyers, it’s tough to crack into.
• Keperra – Plucky Keperra has been known to most as that suburb you drive through to get to Samford. But these days, its retail and entertainment has improved. And as traffic on the north side continues to worsen, buyers are going to be more and more drawn to a local train station.
• Logan Reserve – It might not be the most eye-catching spot on the list, but the average yield for property owners in the area is around +6.22%. That’s impressive by anyone’s standards, and with the local population showing no signs of declining, that yield should stick around for some time.

Before you decide on a suburb, make sure you know what property you’ll need. There would be nothing worse than buying too small of a block, then finding out there isn’t room to build the house you’ll need.

Your best option is to find the house you’ll need, then find the land that suits. And to get started on that journey, check out your local Clarendon Homes display village.