Where to Buy Investment Property, Queensland

Eight Queensland regions compared on gross rental yield

Here's the comparison first, then the working. Weekly rent comes from the Residential Tenancies Authority's bond data for the June quarter 2026, for a 3-bedroom house. Price comes from the REIQ's median house price for the March quarter 2026. Rent times 52, divided by price. That's gross yield, before a single cost comes out.

The order is yield, high to low, and nothing else. A recommendation would need to know your budget, your borrowing capacity, your timeline and what you want the property to do.

Brisbane here means the Brisbane City Council area. Greater Brisbane, a wider area, had a median house price of $1.15 million in the March quarter 2026, up 5.75% over the quarter and 15.5% over the year.

A 4.69% gross yield in Mackay and a 2.56% gross yield in Brisbane are answering different questions. Mackay is higher because the price is lower, not because the rent is higher. Brisbane rents for $720 a week. Mackay rents for $650. Gross yield also says nothing about what the property will be worth later, how long it sits empty between tenants, what the state charges you to own it, or what your lender charges you to hold it. Those come next.

• Mackay: rent $650 a week, median house price $720,000, gross yield 4.69%
• Rockhampton: rent $550 a week, median house price $650,000, gross yield 4.40%
• Bundaberg: rent $580 a week, median house price $730,000, gross yield 4.13%
• Gold Coast: rent $900 a week, median house price $1.38 million, gross yield 3.39%
• Queensland statewide: rent $630 a week, median house price $990,000, gross yield 3.31%
• Moreton Bay: rent $630 a week, median house price $1.053 million, gross yield 3.11%
• Sunshine Coast: rent $760 a week, median house price $1.29 million, gross yield 3.06%
• Noosa: rent $900 a week, median house price $1.68 million, gross yield 2.79%
• Brisbane City Council area: rent $720 a week, median house price $1.46 million, gross yield 2.56%
• Ipswich isn't in the list. Its March 2026 median house price didn't hold up on a second check of the REIQ release, so it stays out until we can confirm it. Ipswich units were $709,000, up 7.42% over the quarter and 29.59% over the year, the strongest quarterly unit growth in that release

Where these numbers come from, and what they can't tell you

Two sources, both free and both dated.

The Residential Tenancies Authority is the Queensland government body that holds rental bonds. Every quarter it works out the median weekly rent for new tenancies that started in that quarter, from the bonds lodged. It breaks that down by postcode, suburb, local government area and the whole state, and by houses, townhouses and flats or units. It uses medians rather than averages because a median isn't pulled around by a few unusually high or low rents. The dataset runs to the June quarter 2026 and is published by the State of Queensland under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence, in April, July, October and January.

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland publishes median sale prices by region. Its release of 28 May 2026 covers the March quarter 2026. Statewide, the median house price rose 4.21% over the quarter to $990,000 and was 15.7% higher over the year. Units were $817,500, up 4.81% for the quarter and 17.19% over the year. REIQ is an industry body rather than a government agency, and we couldn't find a free official Queensland median sale price by region to use instead.

Now the honest part. Rents are June quarter. Prices are March quarter. Three months apart, and no free source publishes both for the same quarter. Prices rose 4.21% in the March quarter alone, so if they kept moving, a March price makes these yields look slightly higher than they'd be on a June price.

• Rents are the June quarter 2026. Prices are the March quarter 2026. Three months apart
• Gross yield is before council rates, insurance, management fees, maintenance, vacancy, loan interest and land tax. Net is always lower
• RTA is a Queensland government body. REIQ is an industry body
• A median is the middle number, so a handful of very high or very low figures don't drag it around

Rent growth and vacancy in the year to June 2026

Yield is a snapshot. Rent growth shows direction. Same RTA dataset, June quarter 2026 against June quarter 2025, 3-bedroom houses.

Statewide, a 3-bedroom house went from $595 to $630, a 5.9% rise. Across all dwelling types the state median was $650, up from $600. Noosa was the most expensive place to rent. $900 a week for a 3-bedroom house and $850 across all dwelling types, the highest of any local government area in the table.

Vacancy is the other half of the picture. The REIQ's Residential Vacancy Rate Report for the June quarter 2026, reported by Australian Broker on 30 July 2026, put the statewide rate at 1%. Twenty-nine regions were at or below 1%. Only six sat above 2.0%. REIQ classes 0 to 2.5% as a tight market, 2.6 to 3.5% as healthy, and 3.6% or above as weak. On that scale nearly all of Queensland is tight.

A few places did loosen. Fraser Coast moved to 2.2%, up 0.7 percentage points. Hervey Bay 2.3%, also up 0.7. Maryborough 1.4%, up 0.6. Still inside the tight band, but moving.

One gap worth naming. We don't have a June quarter 2026 vacancy rate for the Sunshine Coast. A 1.6% figure circulates online and it traces back to the June quarter of 2023, so it's three years old and it isn't on this page.

• Gympie: $570, up from $500. A 14.0% rise, the biggest of any local government area in this comparison
• Ipswich: $580, up from $520, an 11.5% rise
• Townsville: $550, up from $500, a 10.0% rise
• Rockhampton: $550, up from $500, a 10.0% rise
• Gold Coast: $900, up from $830, an 8.4% rise
• Toowoomba: $550, up from $510, a 7.8% rise
• Logan: $600, up from $560, a 7.1% rise
• Sunshine Coast: $760, up from $710, a 7.0% rise
• Moreton Bay: $630, up from $590, a 6.8% rise
• Brisbane: $720, up from $675, a 6.7% rise
• Cairns: $660, up from $620, a 6.5% rise
• Fraser Coast: $580, up from $550, a 5.5% rise

Land tax and transfer duty change the answer before you collect any rent

Two Queensland state charges sit on top of the purchase, and neither one shows up in a yield table.

Land tax starts for an individual when the total taxable value of the freehold land you own in Queensland reaches $600,000 at midnight on 30 June. Under that, you pay none. Over it, the first bracket is $500 plus 1 cent for every $1 above $600,000. From $1,000,000 the rate steps to $4,500 plus 1.65 cents per $1 above $1 million, and it keeps stepping at $3 million, $5 million and $10 million.

This is where people get caught. Land tax is worked out on the Valuer-General's annual land valuation, not on what you paid. Those are two different numbers. So nobody can tell you a land tax bill from a median sale price, and that includes us. It comes off your valuation notice.

The threshold also sits on your total holdings, not on each property. One place might stay under it. A second can push the total over. Companies and trustees are assessed on a different threshold and a different rate scale from individuals.

Transfer duty (stamp duty) is the one-off charge on the purchase itself. Home concessions don't apply to an investment property, so an investor pays the full rate. If the buyer is a foreign person, company or trust, an extra 8% foreign acquirer duty applies to residential land in Queensland.

Put two rows from the table through that. A $650,000 house, the Rockhampton median, sits in the $4.50 per $100 band. A $1.29 million house, the Sunshine Coast median, crosses $1 million, so the last $290,000 is charged at $5.75 per $100. The rate climbs with the price, which is what a progressive table does.

• Nil up to $5,000
• $1.50 per $100 from $5,000 to $75,000
• $1,050 plus $3.50 per $100 above $75,000, up to $540,000
• $17,325 plus $4.50 per $100 above $540,000, up to $1,000,000
• $38,025 plus $5.75 per $100 above $1,000,000

From July 2027, new build or established may matter more than the region

One federal change reorders this whole question, and it's already law.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, No. 49 of 2026, received Royal Assent on 26 June 2026. Schedule 2 is titled "Limit negative gearing for residential property to new builds".

From the 2027-28 income year, which starts 1 July 2027, losses on existing residential investment property bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 can only be deducted against other residential property income, including capital gains. The ATO's guidance says excess losses carry forward to offset residential property income in later years, so a deduction for something like maintenance carries over to a future year rather than disappearing.

Bought before 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026? That property is grandfathered. And nothing shifts this year. Current-year deductibility runs unchanged until the 2027-28 income year begins.

The ATO says the change covers residential property held by individuals, partnerships, companies and most trusts. Commercial property and other assets such as shares keep the existing arrangements.

What nobody can tell you yet is exactly what counts as a new build. Treasury's consultation on the detail closes on 21 August 2026, so treat any confident definition you read before then as a guess, including ours. What this page won't do is tell you what the change means for your tax. That depends on your income, your structure, your timing and what else you own, and it's a question for a registered tax agent.

• 12 May 2026, 7:30pm AEST: the acquisition cut-off. Bought before it, the property is grandfathered
• 26 June 2026: Royal Assent for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, No. 49 of 2026
• 21 August 2026: Treasury's consultation on the detail closes
• 1 July 2027: the 2027-28 income year starts and the limit applies

How FAA is paid, and where FAA actually operates

FAA Property earns a commission from builders and developers when a property purchase proceeds. The strategy session itself costs you nothing. Because we're paid by the supply side, you should weigh our recommendations with that in mind.

We'd rather you read every number above knowing that.

FAA Property Pty Ltd holds Queensland Office of Fair Trading real estate licence 4220395, type Real Estate Agent, expiring 5 June 2027. That licence permits acting for buyers. Section 26 of the Property Occupations Act 2014 covers buying and negotiating for a client for reward, and Queensland has no separate buyer's-agent licence class.

One office. Suite 3-7, Level 5, Tower 2, 55 Plaza Parade, Maroochydore QLD 4558, phone (07) 5327 3469. There's no branch in Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg or anywhere else named on this page. FAA sources new-build and house-and-land investment property across South East Queensland for Queensland and interstate investors. Property management is provided on the Sunshine Coast.

On 5 August 2026 the live rentals feed showed FAA managing property in Maroochydore, Buderim, Sippy Downs, Nirimba, Gympie, North Lakes, Kallangur, Jimboomba, Scarness at Hervey Bay and South Brisbane. The for-sale feed held four properties, in Meridan Plains, Battery Hill, Nirimba and Caloundra West. Both feeds update every 15 minutes, so check the current list rather than this sentence.

• Working out whether a property fits the 2027 rule: read the negative gearing changes explained
• Looking at new-build stock: new-build investment property in Queensland
• Buying land and building separately: house-and-land investment packages in Queensland
• What FAA has available right now: current investment property opportunities
• Testing one specific property: put your figures through the investment property calculator