Colliers Queensland Ipswich and Ripley Valley PDA Land Market Overview shows land prices are to exceed $300,000 by the end of 2023, taking new house and land packages to over $650,000.

Colliers Queensland Director of Residential Jon Rivera said as a result of the decline in land sales, there had been an imbalance in supply and demand, which had driven land prices to soar over the past two years.

“Land prices have increased by 100 per cent on the Gold Coast and 57 per cent in Brisbane. However, Ipswich is the only council in the region where sales below $300,000 were still being recorded in 2022,” Jon Rivera added.

“But based on current off-the plan land prices in the region, it's expected that the land price in Ipswich will exceed $300,000 by the end of 2023 taking house and land packages to well over $600,000.

“Based on a sample of 41 fixed-price turnkey homes across Ipswich LGA and 16 within the Ripley Valley PDA, the average price for a new home build in the Ipswich LGA is $374,026 for a 190sqm home. This translates to an average cost of $1,969 per sqm.

“The most affordable sales in the period were recorded in Ripley Valley where a 294 sqm lot was advertised at $223,000, followed by a 250 sqm lot for $240,900.

“In comparison, the average cost for a new home build in the Ripley Valley PDA is slightly higher, at $386,432 for a 194 sqm home. This equates to an average of $2,011 per sqm.

“As a result, the average fixed price turnkey house and land package in the Ipswich LGA is $657,426, while the average is slightly higher in the Ripley Valley PDA at $684,264,” Jon Rivera said.

“We welcome the Queensland Premier’s announcement to fast-track land releases in the Ripley Valley, however, homes are becoming unaffordable.”

The report shows that the PDA area of Greater Ripley has 10 projects, 7 of which are consistently selling stock annually.

The average sale price of land within the PDA is now sitting at $318,669 with some other developments during the March quarter of 2023 registering the highest sale prices for land the region at $367,325 and $348,349.

The report further demonstrated the Ipswich LGA is experiencing a significant supply imbalance of vacant land, as indicated by a 26 per cent increase in median land price since September 2020, when sales peaked at 641 settlements. Settlements have plummeted by 83 per cent since that time, hitting a low of 110 settled sales at the end of Sept 2022 quarter, the lowest volume of settled land sales recorded since the December 2000 quarter.

Jon Rivera said this decline in sales volume reflected the delays currently being experienced in the sector, a combination of lack of new community approvals and delivery timeframe blow outs of land within communities, now averaging a year from sales release to land settlement.

“The South East Queensland region has experienced a significant decline in land settlement, dropping by a staggering 77 per cent since reaching its peak in 2020. This decline is being felt across all major councils in the region, largely due to the delays in supply chain delivery of new projects delaying settlements compounding the affects,” Jon Rivera added.

“Given the shortage of available stock, the high cost of development, and the difficulty of acquiring new opportunities to supply the market in volume, it's unlikely that prices will decline from their current levels.

“Despite current macro-economic forces that may indicate a softening of prices, the fundamentals of the market remain strong, and it's expected that the price of new land will continue to remain high throughout 2023 and into the first half of 2024,” Jon Rivera added.

*Priority Development Area (PDA) is a large-scale development zone that covers an area of approximately 4,500 hectares and is designed to accommodate a projected population of 120,000 people over the next 20 years. It includes a range of residential, commercial, and community infrastructure, including schools, parks, and recreational facilities. The PDA is also designed to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly, with green spaces, bike paths, and public transportation.

Click here to view and download the report.