October 2026 · Issue #11
October 2026 · Issue #11
Mortgage stress hit 450,000 households this week — the postcodes behind it aren’t ours.
Two reports this week put households in mortgage stress at a record high. The number is built from 77 tracked postcodes, and none of them are in the Redlands. What the data actually says.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #11
Unsold listings are up 22% nationally — Brisbane’s stale-stock share is still the smallest of the big three.
Cotality and SQM Research both show listings piling up and turnover falling. Brisbane’s stale stock is growing just as fast as Sydney’s and Melbourne’s, but far less of it is actually stuck.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #10
October 2026 · Issue #10
Values are falling in almost every suburb, and Brisbane auctions cleared one in five.
Cotality shows 93% of capital-city suburbs recorded a fall over winter, and Brisbane’s clearance rate dropped to 21.2% last week. What it means if you’re selling, buying or holding.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #10
Rents hit a record $675 a week, but vacancies are the highest in four years.
The realestate.com.au Rental Report puts the national median rent at a record, with vacancy at 1.5%. What it means for landlords and tenants.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #10
Three weeks or sixty days: what separates the townhouses that sell from the ones that sit.
Sixteen townhouses are for sale in Thornlands. Nine have sat for two months or more and cut their price; 80/47 Freshwater Street went under contract in 19 days at $790,000 after three written offers. What the Pricefinder data says about the difference.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #9
October 2026 · Issue #9
What’s still selling in a softer market.
Values have fallen six months running and agents are telling sellers to reset. A Thornlands townhouse that went the other way — under contract above its advertised price after three offers — and what made the difference.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #9
Townhouses and units are holding their ground.
Brisbane units are up 8.5% on a year ago, rental yields are the best since 2019, and fewer new listings are coming on. The market, straight — plus September’s local sales.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #9
Good news around the Redlands this October.
A treetop all-abilities playground under way at IndigiScapes, an Enchanted Christmas Garden on the way, Australia Day award nominations open and RPAC heading to the national awards.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #9
Get your home storm-ready this week.
It’s Get Ready Week on the Redlands Coast. A short checklist to protect your home before storm season — gutters, kit, cover and alerts.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #8
October 2026 · Issue #8
Rates are up again. Here’s what 4.60% means.
The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September, the fourth rise this year. On a $750,000 loan that’s about $114 a month more. Why the Board moved, what the banks are doing, and what to watch before 3 November.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #8
The market, straight: more choice for buyers, a long runway for owners.
Brisbane values fell 1.0% in August and auction clearance rates have been under 50% in 18 of the past 19 weeks — but values are still up 10.8% on a year ago. Where the Redlands sits, and what it means whether you’re selling, buying or staying put.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #8
Good news on the Redlands Coast this spring.
Birkdale has cleared its federal environmental review, $35.5 million of roadworks are under way on Kinross Road, Redland Hospital’s transit hub has more beds, and Capalaba’s new town centre is rising.
Read the full story →October 2026 · Issue #8
Spring on the Redlands Coast: what’s on this October.
Surfing at Point Lookout, a storytellers’ festival across the islands, twilight markets at Sirromet, a free Seniors Expo and a big month at RPAC — plus the regular markets and a koala reminder.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #7
September 2026 · Issue #7
Investors are selling. Here’s who’s buying.
A record 18.3% of investors sold up in the year to August, and nearly two in three say their rental is now negative cash flow. But two-thirds of those homes went to owner-occupiers and first-home buyers — and if you already own, the 2027 tax change most of them fear doesn’t apply to you.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #7
Brisbane has joined the fall — and 93% of suburbs with it.
Cotality’s August index has national values 3.6% below the March peak and Brisbane off 1.0% for the month. What a 1% month actually means on your street, why fewer sales make every sale count, and the numbers that are still holding.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #7
Sydney auctions are under 50%. I’m still taking a home under the hammer.
Sydney’s clearance rate has slid to around 47% and the headlines say buyers are calling the shots. Here’s why a properly run auction still works in the Redlands — and why Elysium Road goes under the hammer in October.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #7
The Bank of Mum and Dad is now a third of the market.
34% of Australians got — or will get — family help to buy, and 61% of current owners say they needed it. What a gift, a guarantee and a loan each mean for parents, and why this buyer is the one sellers should be presenting for.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #6
September 2026 · Issue #6
You’re more protected than the 2027 tax headline said.
The capital gains and negative gearing changes are now law — but the “valuation crunch” coverage skips the grandfathering. Anything held before 12 May 2026 keeps its negative gearing until you sell, and the old 50% discount still applies to every dollar of gain up to 1 July 2027.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #6
“Prices are falling” isn’t our story.
National values dipped for a fifth month — but Brisbane held steady and units kept rising. Locally the gap is wider still: Thornlands units and townhouses are up around 17% over the year, to a median near $762,500. A national average isn’t your street.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #6
Rents are cooling, not spiking.
Rent growth has eased to 5.7% and vacancies have edged up to about 1.9%. The predicted rent explosion from the 2027 tax changes hasn’t shown up — what’s actually moving rents is immigration and affordability, not the budget.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #6
More choice for buyers — how to still win.
Auction clearances have softened and Greater Brisbane listings are running well above a year ago. The homes selling right now get two things right: priced to meet the market on day one, and presented to stand out from the very first photo.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #5
September 2026 · Issue #5
Spring doesn’t ease in around here.
Seven events in one month — Shoreline night markets, the IndigiScapes eco markets on Father’s Day eve, the Quandamooka Festival on Straddie, and RedFest’s 68th year closing out September. Your what’s-on guide, in date order.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #5
The lagoon is coming to Birkdale.
Council has released the full plans: a 62-hectare precinct with a 2,000m² lagoon, the Olympic whitewater centre, hotels, a zip-line and more, from mid-2027. What a destination precinct does to what the surrounding suburbs are worth to live in — and the one honest caveat inside.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #5
Good news from around the city.
A community breakfast that raised $19,000 for school chaplaincy, new exhibitions celebrating fishing culture and the written word, and a new way for residents to have their say. Three small stories that say a lot about this place.
Read the full story →September 2026 · Issue #5
Getting your place spring-ready.
Two jobs this month — one protects your home, one protects your price. Bushfire prep for the bushland fringes, and the presentation that decides whether you make the shortlist when spring listings lift. Plus the free 36-point selling guide.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #4
August 2026 · Issue #4
Last month this wasn’t our story. This month it is.
Brisbane values fell 0.6% in July, the second monthly fall running, and NAB called the turn here the most surprising trend in the country. The mechanism is supply, not panic — and it changes what a Redlands seller has to get right.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #4
A year ago the market caught up to an ambitious price. It won’t now.
Well-presented, sensibly priced homes around the bay are still finding their buyer. What’s changed is that “sensibly priced” now does real work — and a hopeful price no longer gets rescued by the market.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #4
A 20% fall was modelled. Nobody predicted it.
Cotality published four downturn scenarios — 5, 10, 15 and 20 per cent. A scenario is a what-if, not a forecast, and the difference matters. What actual forecasters are saying, and why timing the bottom is a game almost nobody wins.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #3
August 2026 · Issue #3
National values keep falling — but the Redlands is not the national market.
Values across the five biggest capitals fell 1% in a month, led by Sydney and Melbourne. Why the two cities dragging that average down tell you very little about your street — and where the honest limits of that comfort are.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #3
Listings hit a seven-year high, and buyers got their leverage back.
Brisbane stock is up 38.3% on a year ago. My own campaign numbers: 84 enquiries, 24 who showed intent to inspect, five who registered. That gap is the market in three numbers.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #3
Negative gearing changes from July 2027 — and the exemption most reports leave out.
From 1 July 2027 negative gearing is limited to new builds and the CGT discount is replaced. But properties held at the 12 May 2026 announcement are exempt — a detail most of the coverage skips entirely.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #3
The RBA holds at 4.35% — what a second pause actually signals.
Two holds in a row, but no cut expected until well into 2027. This year’s rises already cut a median household’s borrowing power by around $53,000 — and that number is doing more to the local market than the rate itself.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #3
Advertised rents are up more than 50% since 2019.
Over $12,500 a year added for a typical tenant, with rents growing at close to double wage growth. Why falling values and rising rents are not the contradiction they look like.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #2
August 2026 · Issue #2
Selling this spring? The real work starts now, not October.
Spring brings the most buyers of any season — and the most competition. Why the sellers who win are prepared and on-market before the October crowd.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #2
The quiet boom in Thornlands townhouses.
Thornlands units and townhouses jumped around 17% in a year to a median near $762,500 — outpacing many house markets. Why, and why so few ever hit the portals.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #2
The City Plan changes just cleared a big hurdle. Here’s where they’re at.
The block-splitting and dual-occupancy amendments have passed consultation and gone to the State — but they’re not law yet. What that means before you sell.
Read the full story →August 2026 · Issue #2
Birkdale’s whitewater centre is now under construction — with a catch.
The 2032 Olympic venue is being built, but faces a fresh challenge and questions over its own sport. My honest read on what it does — and doesn’t — do for values.
Read the full story →July 2026 · Issue #1
July 2026 · Issue #1
That valuation letter you got? It’s a bigger deal than it looks.
Redlands land values just jumped 20% across 63,778 properties. What it means for your rates, your equity — and the number that letter doesn’t tell you.
Read the full story →July 2026 · Issue #1
Toondah Harbour: Walker walks. What now for Cleveland’s waterfront?
After 12 years and a $1.3 billion plan, the developer is out. Locals are pitching their own vision. Here’s what it means for property nearby.
Read the full story →July 2026 · Issue #1
Is your block suddenly worth more? The City Plan changes, explained.
Minimum lots down to 300sqm in some zones, new dual-occupancy rules. Some ordinary Redlands blocks are about to become splittable — is yours one of them?
Read the full story →July 2026 · Issue #1
The Olympics are officially coming to Birkdale. Here’s the property angle.
The Redland Whitewater Centre cleared its final federal hurdle in June. What a decade of Games-driven infrastructure means for Redlands values.
Read the full story →