Frank Gardner Real Estate

20/06/2026

Gold Coast Beach -

03/06/2026

Approvals soften as warning lights flash on housing targets

By Charlie Tchetchenian•06:40 AM, 3 Jun 2026•5 min read

With approvals easing and completions well behind national goals, fresh data is pointing to a widening housing supply gap.
Australia’s latest building approvals and new modelling on housing completions show a market still generating solid detached house activity but falling far short of what is needed to deliver the Albanese government’s 1.2 million home target under the National Housing Accord.
April’s seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed total dwelling approvals slipping 3.4 per cent to 16,710, following a steep 10.5 per cent drop in March.
Within that total, private sector houses edged 1 per cent lower to 10,088, while private sector dwellings excluding houses – mostly apartments and town houses – fell 3.6 per cent to 6,403.
Yet the composition looks different in original terms, with higher density product lifting off a relatively soft base.
Apartment approvals rose 9 per cent in April to 4,108 dwellings, driven largely by NSW and sit around 4.5 per cent above their average for the previous 12 months.
New semidetached approvals weakened by 5.8 per cent to 2,901, but that result is broadly in line with the recent trend, sitting slightly above the 12 month average of 2,893.
ABS head of construction statistics, Daniel Rossi, said that, despite the monthly decline, stand alone house approvals were still running at historically strong levels.
“This is the third consecutive month with over 10,000 private sector houses approved. The last time this occurred was during the final three months of 2021,” Rossi said.
For total dwellings, approvals fell in NSW (down 9.5 per cent), Western Australia (down 7.4 per cent), and Victoria (down 3.9 per cent), while Tasmania jumped 42.2 per cent, South Australia rose 4.3 per cent, and Queensland lifted 0.3 per cent.
A similar mixed pattern emerged for private sector houses, with approvals falling in NSW (down 13.8 per cent) and Western Australia (down 1.2 per cent) but rising in South Australia (up 11.4 per cent), Victoria (up 2.2 per cent), and Queensland (up 0.9 per cent).

Completions far short of Accord ambitions
Set against those approvals, new research from HomeLoanRates.com.au and Primara Research suggests that the number of homes actually being completed is nowhere near the pace required to hit the federal government’s headline supply target.
Since the National Housing Accord was announced, only 268,445 dwellings have been built in the first 18 months of the five year window.
Primara’s analysis shows Australia averaging 44,741 completions per quarter over that period.
To reach 1.2 million homes by mid 2029, 931,555 dwellings would need to be delivered over the remaining three and a half years, implying 66,540 completions per quarter.
Director of Primara Research, Peter Drennan, said the gap between current activity and the federal government’s housing targets required a major step change.
“To meet the target, completions need to lift by 49 per cent from today’s average. That’s an additional 7,266 homes per month above what is currently being built. It’s not impossible, but nothing in the current trajectory suggests it’s happening,” he said.
NSW carries half the national shortfall
Primara’s state breakdown showed that some jurisdictions are broadly keeping pace with their share of the target, while others are dragging the national numbers down.
Victoria, which has about 26 per cent of the population, is contributing roughly 32 per cent of completions and sits just 8 per cent behind its population weighted goal, with the ACT on track to meet its targets.
NSW, however, was identified as the biggest single source of under delivery.
With around 31 per cent of Australia’s population, it accounts for just 26 per cent of completions and is estimated to be 39 per cent behind its target.
That equates to about 7,192 of the 14,914 additional homes that need to be built each month across the country to meet the Accord’s 1.2 million dwelling objective.
Queensland (around 31 per cent behind), Tasmania (50 per cent behind), and the Northern Territory (81 per cent behind) were also flagged as significantly behind the required pace.
Drennan said the contrasting performance of the states pointed to both the scale of the challenge and the potential solutions.
“Victoria and the ACT show it can be done at a state level. But NSW alone accounts for an estimated half of the national monthly shortfall. Until NSW and the growth states close that gap, the national target remains out of reach,” Drennan outlined.

19/05/2026

Real Estate is splitting in two.
Group one are the agents who are pairing AI-led marketing, disciplined data, and the right broker partners – and watching their referral economy compound.
Group two are the agents who are about to watch their listings get harder year over year.
Where will your Real Estate Business be in the next 3 years - a Thriving Business or a Failing Business.

04/05/2026

History of the Sovereign Islands Gold Coast
Commencing in 1988, two low mangrove islands, Andys Island and Griffin Island, were redeveloped by Lewis Land Corporation to create a six-island group for a gated community of canal home sites with deepwater moorings and direct access to Moreton Bay. 140,000 cubic metres (4,900,000 cu ft) of sand was pumped to create the islands and their navigable waterways.[3] Andys Island and Griffin Island were thought to be named after local oystermen. The names of the former islands were replaced with the name Sovereign Islands in the official place names of Queensland on 16 February 1987, despite one objection to the loss of the historic names.
Sovereign Islands is one of the most expensive areas in the country with some homes more than $20 million dollars. Many houses do not slide under the $3 million dollar mark.] The 2008 financial crisis impacted on real estate prices on the Sovereign Islands. In 2011 several properties sold well below prices recorded in previous years.
Amenities
Sovereign Islands Is freehold property; however, the residents pay a gate levy fee of approximately $2,600 per annum for security and parks. The roads are paved with brick, and streetlights and palm trees line the expansive street scapes.

23/04/2026

Australia Property Market
Suburbs where an extra bedroom costs up to $3.79 million
Daniel Butkovich, Property Journalist
First published 22 Apr 2026, 12:26pm
New data has revealed the huge premium some buyers are paying for bigger homes, and the surprising locations where the difference is negligible.
Home buyers in some of Australia’s most exclusive suburbs are forking out millions more to buy homes with just one more bedroom. PropTrack data has revealed the big difference in median prices of three-bedroom and four-bedroom homes across Australian suburbs, with some buyers paying twice as much for a larger home. The data shows that the biggest price differences were mostly found in some of Australia’s most exclusive suburbs where typical houses already have multimillion-dollar price tags but bigger properties come with a massive premium.
Where an extra bedroom costs millions
Vaucluse in Sydney topped the list with a $3.79 million difference between the median price for three-bedroom houses ($4.55 million) and four-bedroom houses ($8.34 million). Nearby Rose Bay had a $2.83 million difference. The price difference was $2.675 million in Toorak, Melbourne’s priciest suburb. Nearby Armadale had a $2.59 million difference – equating to a 124% premium above the median price of a three-bedroom house ($2.09 million).
Suburbs with the biggest price differences between three-bedroom and four-bedroom houses
Suburb State Median price - 4-bed houses Median price 3-bed house Price difference
1 Vaucluse NSW $8,337,500 $4,550,000 $3,787,500
2 Rose Bay NSW $6,350,000 $3,517,500 $2,832,500
3 Toorak VIC $6,200,000 $3,525,000 $2,675,000
4 Armadale VIC $4,675,000 $2,088,500 $2,586,500
5 Birchgrove NSW $5,350,000 $3,020,000 $2,330,000
6 Woollahra NSW $6,125,000 $3,887,500 $2,237,500
7 Bronte NSW $6,340,000 $4,300,000 $2,040,000
8 Coogee NSW $5,150,000 $3,300,000 $1,850,000
9 Mosman NSW $5,600,000 $3,860,000 $1,740,000
10 Northbridge NSW $4,944,000 $3,375,000 $1,569,000
Sourec: PropTrack. Suburbs ranked by difference in median price for three-bedroom and four-bedroom houses. Median prices for 12 months ending March 2026.
REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh said the biggest bedroom price gaps tended to show up in expensive suburbs because additional bedrooms often signified a premium product.
“Once you are in prestige markets, the ‘extra bedroom’ is rarely just an extra bedroom,” she said.
“It is usually bundled with a bigger block, a wider frontage, a superior floorplan, more bathrooms, more parking, a pool, better entertaining space, and often a more tightly held location within the suburb.” Homes with an extra bedroom can cost millions more in pricey harbourfront suburbs. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Eastern suburbs real estate agent Reuben Dunn of Ray White Double Bay said home values in suburbs such as Vaucluse and Rose Bay were usually linked with land size and views rather than the exact bedroom count.
“Three-bedroom houses are more often semis or fundamental smaller properties, whereas once you get to four-bedroom houses, you’re talking big family homes on bigger parcels of land," he said. In high-end suburbs, homes with a higher bedroom count typically have more premium features such as pools or views. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
There were also huge differences between median prices for two- and three-bedroom units in many affluent Sydney suburbs, mostly clustered around the harbour or beaches.
A three-bedroom Elizabeth Bay apartment cost $2.61 million more than a two-bedroom unit – the biggest difference nationally. Pyrmont three-bedroom apartments typically sold for $2.45 million more than two-bedders, while the difference was $2.13 million in Kirribilli.
Suburbs with the biggest price differences between two-bedroom and three-bedroom units
Suburb State Median price - 3-bed units Median price 2-bed units Price difference
1 Elizabeth Bay NSW $4,460,000 $1,850,000 $2,610,000
2 Pyrmont NSW $3,700,000 $1,252,500 $2,447,500
3 Kirribilli NSW $3,700,000 $1,575,000 $2,125,000
4 Double Bay NSW $3,730,000 $1,650,000 $2,080,000
5 Darlinghurst NSW $3,705,000 $1,630,000 $2,075,000
6 Sydney NSW $3,249,000 $1,200,000 $2,049,000
7 Bellevue Hill NSW $3,450,000 $1,415,000 $2,035,000
8 Rose Bay NSW $3,320,000 $1,477,500 $1,842,500
9 Hunters Hill NSW $2,755,000 $939,750 $1,815,250
10 Darling Point NSW $3,675,000 $1,925,000 $1,750,000
Sourec: PropTrack. Suburbs ranked by difference in median price for three-bedroom and four-bedroom units. Median prices for 12 months ending March 2026.
Ms Creagh said scarcity can be a major factor in the high-end apartment market, with buyers prepared to pay more for rarer, premium homes.
“In prestige unit markets, the jump from two to three bedrooms often means moving from an ordinary apartment into a very different product,” she said.
“This could be a higher level, views, harbourside positioning, superior internal area, more parking, and often a much more limited supply.”
Mr Dunn said three-bedroom unit buyers were often downsizers with significant equity available and were prepared to pay more for larger apartments with more living space.
Larger three-bedroom apartments in harbourfront suburbs can cost twice as much as two-bedders, PropTrack data shows. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
At the other end of the spectrum, the data shows that it’s much more cost-effective to upgrade in areas where house prices are achievable, with price differences based on bedroom counts tending to be much smaller.
The step up from three to four bedrooms adds about $105,000 to the median price of a house in Penrith in Sydney’s west, $79,500 in Frankston in Melbourne’s southeast and $40,000 in Logan Central in Brisbane’s south.
Values for larger properties exploded during the pandemic when households who were spending more time at home placed a premium on space, prioritising home offices and larger block sizes, Ms Creagh said.
“Today, the preference for space has not disappeared, but it is being filtered through affordability constraints, and higher mortgage rates,” she said.
How upsizing costs vary across the capitals
Comparing median prices for two-, three-and four-bedroom homes in each capital city paints a different picture, suggesting that the priciest cities don’t always have the biggest upgrade cost.
Canberrans pay the biggest cost moving to larger homes, with four-bedroom houses typically costing $278,000 more than three-bedders.
Upgrading from a three-bedroom to a four-bedroom house costs $247,500 in Adelaide and $205,000 in both Sydney and Hobart.
Melbourne is the most affordable city for upsizing to a four-bedroom house, with a $80,000 difference in median prices, followed by Brisbane ($105,000), Darwin ($128,000) and Perth ($136,000).
Canberra also has the highest cost for upgrading from a two-bedroom house to a three-bedder ($185,000), followed by Brisbane ($100,000).
Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are in the unusual position in that three-bedroom houses actually have lower median prices than two-bedroom houses.
This is because the greatest concentration of two-bedroom houses is found in inner-city suburbs, where lots are smaller and median prices are typically higher.

Two-bedroom houses have lower median prices than three-bedders in some cities due to two-bedroom houses being concentrated in inner-city suburbs with higher land values. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Ms Creagh said two-bedroom houses were often compact inner-city properties such as terraces or townhouses, which are more common in inner suburbs with high land values.
“A three-bedroom house, by contrast, may more often sit in a middle-ring or outer-ring suburb where the dwelling is larger but the land value is lower,” she said
Two-bedroom houses are an uncommon configuration, with about 5,000 listed for sale across Australia on realestate.com.au at the time of publication, representing less than 5% of the total number of houses for sale.
There were about 33,000 three-bedroom houses, 53,000 four-bedroom houses, and 14,000 five-bedders listed for sale.
Melbourne is the priciest city for upgrading from a one-bedroom unit to a two-bedder, with median prices differing by $220,000. Darwin is the most affordable with a $91,000 price gap.
In Sydney, it costs about $370,000 to jump from a two-bedroom to a three-bedroom apartment.
Brisbane has the smallest difference between median prices for two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, but larger apartments still command premium prices in pricey riverfront and inner-city suburbs. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
But opting for a third bedroom is cheapest in Brisbane, where the difference in median prices is just $40,000.
Three-bedroom units are much less common than two-bedroom units Australia-wide, with about a third as many listed for sale on realestate.com.au at the time of publication.

Discover how much the latest properties have been sold for. Browse sold real estate listings to find auction results and sold prices from all over Australia.

14/04/2026

Snapshot Australian Property Market
The supply gap: WA and QLD home values double as population growth outpaces new construction
A profound supply-demand imbalance has emerged as a key contributor to divergent home value trends across Australia since the start of 2020, according to a recent analysis by Cotality.
Analysis from Cotality’s April Housing Chart Pack reveals that between Q1 2020 and Q3 2025, the strongest growth in home values was concentrated in states where the rate of dwelling completions has lagged significantly behind population growth.

Cotality Australia’s Head of Research Gerard Burg noted Western Australia (WA) and Queensland (QLD) were the primary examples of this trend.

“In WA and QLD, the share of dwelling completions fell well behind the share of population growth, with these states seeing home values more than double since 2020.

“QLD accounted for over 25% of the total increase in Australia's population over this period, but less than 20% of the dwellings completed were located in QLD,” he said.
“In WA, across the same period, the share of the country’s population growth was nearly 17%, in contrast just 10% of completed dwellings.”

Mr Burg highlighted that the QLD also recorded the largest population increase in the country, with over 25% of national growth attributed to people migrating likely in pursuit of a lifestyle shift for warmer climate and relative affordability.
“QLD has long attracted retirees from other states, and, until recently, offered buyers some more affordable markets compared with other major cities. Net migration to QLD has started to slow in the last few quarters, and First Home Buyers may increasingly look to opportunities elsewhere,” he said.

At the other end of the spectrum, Victoria (VIC) accounted for the largest share of home completions in this period – around one-third (33%) of the total – outpacing its share of population growth.
“Policy support at both the State and Federal level assisted the growth in VIC dwellings over this period. Almost 63% of this new supply in VIC were stand-alone houses, which we see Australians still have a revealed preference for. In NSW, for example, the split between houses and units was closer to 50-50.”

Meanwhile, South Australia (SA) remains a notable outlier in the findings, recording strong growth in home values, of over 90% over the five-year period, despite dwelling completions remaining similar to population growth.
“Overall, when we see a supply-demand imbalance such as those in Perth or Brisbane, we wind up with a large pool of buyers competing for a small pool of dwellings. This creates a seller’s market and can rapidly drive up home values, as we saw in these two capitals.”
Other highlights from the April Housing Chart Pack include:
• Australia’s residential real estate total market value rose to $12.6 trillion in March.
• National dwelling values rose 2.1% over the quarter, and accelerated to 9.9% annually in March, the fastest 12-month pace of growth since June 2022.
• Regional markets have been more resilient to a slowdown in value growth, likely supported by regional migration trends and affordability.
• There is a clear divergence in growth trends, the rolling four-week change has deepened a little across Sydney and Melbourne, while the mid-sized capitals lost some steam.
• Cotality estimates that almost 559,457 sales have transacted in 2026, 1.9% lower than a year ago but 5.6% higher than the five-year average.
• Median time on market was 30 days nationally, down from 33 days in Q1 2025, with capital city homes selling fastest in Perth (nine days) and slowest in Darwin (47 days) and Canberra (43 days).
• Vendor activity has been lower than average for this time of the year. There were 36,712 new listings over the four weeks ending 5 April 2026, down -3.3% compared to March last year.‍
• Most of the capitals have also seen the number of new listings tracking lower than a year ago, with Brisbane (3.3%) and Hobart (9.1%) the exceptions.‍
• Rental markets remain extremely tight, recording a vacancy rate of 1.6% in March.‍
• Gross rental yields nationally rose to 3.57% in March, with Darwin (6.0%) continuing to stand out with the highest gross yields, while Sydney (3.1%.) records the lowest.

30/03/2026

Another Blow for Mortgage Holders in Australia
Cash rate will hit 4.85 per cent this year: Westpac
By Annie Kane
30 March 2026
The major bank has revised its cash rate forecast, suggesting that interest rates will hit levels not seen since the global financial crisis.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) has revised its cash rate trajectory forecasts, adding in two additional rate hikes this year.
While the major bank had expected the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to lift the cash rate again in May, it has now added in another two 25-basis-point hikes this year - for the June and August 2026 rate decisions - marking five consecutive cash rate hikes.
As such, this will take the peak cash rate to 4.85 per cent - the highest level since the global financial crisis. The last time the cash rate was higher than this was in November 2008, when it was 5.25 per cent. 🏡🏡🏡🏡🏡

11/03/2026

Residential Real Estate Australia
March 2026 - Property Statistics and Data
Value of Residential Property - $12.5 Trillion Dollars
Number of Dwelling/Properties 11.4 Trillion
Outstanding Mortgage Debt $2.5 Trillion Dollars
Current Household Wealth in Housing 55.4%
Total Number of Property Sales per annum 584,483
Gross Value of Sales per annum $565 Billion Dollars

Highlights from the March 2026 Housing
• Inner Melbourne units are estimated to cost $322 per month less to service a new mortgage than the equivalent median rent.
• Capital city dwelling values across the lower quartile rose 11.5% over the past year compared with 6.6% across the upper quartile.
• Total listings are 11.4% lower across the combined capitals and 17.5% lower across the combined regionals compared with a year ago.
• New listings are 0.1% higher than a year ago but almost 4% below the five-year average.
• Vendor discounting is close to record lows at 2.9% across the combined capital cities.
• Investor lending increased 7.9% over the December quarter and 31.8% over the year, with investors accounting for 39.7% of lending.
First home buyer lending rose 6.8% by volume and 15.5% by value in the December quarter, accounting for 29.6% of owner occupier lending.

11/03/2026

NAB, CBA, and Westpac tip back-to-back rate hikes
By Charlie Tchetchenian•13:10 PM, 11 Mar 2026
Three of Australia’s biggest banks have shifted their calls on the Reserve Bank’s next move, now tipping an earlier and steeper tightening path.
Major lenders National Australia Bank (NAB), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Westpac have revised their cash rate forecasts ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) March rate decision next Tuesday (17 March), with the three lenders now suggesting the central bank will lift rates by 25 basis points. As such, the cash rate would reach 4.00 per cent next week. Moreover, the banks think the RBA will follow up with another hike in May. This will mean the first three rate decisions of 2026 would be increases, following last month’s increase.

10/03/2026

Main Beach Gold Coast 🥹