Brisbane is on the cusp of getting its first $3 million suburb

Teneriffe is on the cusp of becoming Brisbane’s first $3 million suburb.

Already firmly cemented as Brisbane’s most expensive suburb after becoming the first to break the $2 million median, data from PriceFinder shows Teneriffe’s median price has skyrocketed by 41 per cent up to $2,685,000, based on 10 sales so far this year. House prices have grown a staggering 71.8 per cent over the past two years.

Local agent Matt Lancashire, principal of Ray White New Farm, says it’s fast on its way to breaking the $3 million median.

“Given the way sales are happening in Teneriffe right now along the riverfront, after this (September) quarter there is a very strong chance that it will nudge over $3 million…there’s been some very strong results that are due to settle soon,” Mr Lancashire says.

“It’s only a matter of time. And I predict that Teneriffe will finish 2017 with an overall median breaking that $3 million mark too.”

While a median price of $3 million is big news in Brisbane, it’s small fry in Sydney, where a whopping 78 suburbs now boast a median house price of $2 million or more.

Which is why Mr Lancashire believes Brisbane’s inner city suburbs still have a lot of value left in them.

“This is the closest comparable to the eastern suburbs in Sydney or Melbourne and realistically if anyone is shifting from down south, they want the inner city cosmopolitan vibe that is only two kilometres to the GPO and full of great restaurants, bars and cafes,” he says.

“What you can get in Brisbane compared to what you pay in Sydney is incredible.”

Houses, rather than apartments, are few and far between in Teneriffe, which means that when they do come on the market, they’re fiercely fought over.

“There’s such a finite amount of houses in Teneriffe; there’s the Catalina houses, then the houses on top of Teneriffe Hill. That’s it. That’s why the median keeps moving up so fast, because we’re dealing with a small amount of property…supply there is incredibly limited,” Mr Lancashire says.

Ray White New Farm has sold more than $30 million in real estate just on Macquarie Street in the past three years. Regarded as “the” blue chip riverfront investment when it was developed 12 years ago, the Catalina homes are still tightly held — and consequently hotly contested — whenever they go up for sale.

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Recent sales include 37 Macquarie Street, which sold for $5.1 million in February this year through Hamish Bowman and Matt Lancashire, and 53 Macquarie Street, which sold for $5,236,000 in March through Christine Rudolph.

On Teneriffe Hill,  48 Teneriffe Drive sold for more than $4 million; an architectural home at 78a Chester Street sold for $3.25 million through Belle Property New Farm, while recently, artist Wendy Moore and her architect husband Jonathan Williams snagged $2.85 million for their renovated home at 95 Little Chester Street.

“If you want to buy a riverfront home with a north-east aspect (in Teneriffe) there’s only 27 homes there. It is a simple economics supply and demand shortage,” Mr Lancashire says.

The Catalina homes were built by property developer Rusty McCart along with his partners David Roberts and Paul Barrett, who formed Meridien, once one of the country’s largest private developers, focusing on retirement and student accommodation as well as marinas.

There is only one Catalina home currently on the market, 77 Macquarie Street, Teneriffe, which will go to auction on site this Saturday, September 2, at 11am. Set on the riverfront with spectacular views, it features four bedrooms, three bathrooms and 488 square metres of opulent living space spread over three levels.