Top 10 best affordable suburbs in regional Queensland 2026
Regional Queensland can offer a lower entry point for first-time buyers or investors. Venture outside Brisbane, and you’ll find growing regions with comparatively affordable home and lifestyle costs.
But price isn’t the only consideration when selecting a location to buy property. The ‘best’ lower-priced suburb in regional Queensland will vary from buyer to buyer. Metrics to consider include sales volumes, price growth, vacancy rates, infrastructure, and proximity to work and amenities.
For our purposes, we’ve used PRD’s Smart Moves: Regional Edition 2026 report to narrow down the top regional Queensland areas that are still affordable. PRD’s methodology considers the Queensland markets and Local Government Areas (LGAs) delivering a mix of “relative affordability, rental resilience, employment stability, and future housing supply”.
Below are the top 10 affordable regional markets in Queensland according to PRD, as well as key statistics on the top three areas.
Rank | Market | Median house price 2025 | 12-month price growth |
1 | Toowoomba Region | $769,000 | +18.3% |
2 | Ipswich LGA | $801,450 | +14.5% |
3 | Cairns Region LGA | $865,000 | Unavailable |
4 | Gladstone | $590,000 | +18.5%% |
5 | Gympie | $749,990 | +14.5% |
6 | Townsville | $632,000 | +21.2% |
7 | Fraser Coast | $705,000 | +11.9% |
8 | Bundaberg | $650,000 | +14.0% |
9 | Mackay | $652,000 | +18.5% |
10 | Livingstone | $800,000 | +10.3% |
Source: Smart Moves: Regional Edition 2026.
Toowoomba Region LGA
Positioned about 90 minutes west of Brisbane, the Toowoomba Region covers around 185,000 residents across 35 towns and villages. Toowoomba is one of South East Queensland’s most in-demand inland markets, and continues to deliver growth across house, land and unit prices.
- Major suburbs: Toowoomba, Oakey, Hampton, Pittsworth, Crows Nest, Clifton
- Vacancy rate (Dec 2025): 0.7%
- Rental yield (Dec 2025): 4.0% for houses, 4.1% for units
- Five-year population growth: 7.0%
Ipswich LGA
The City of Ipswich LGA is located 40 kilometres southwest of central Brisbane. The region is on the outer western part of Greater Brisbane, but is classified as a regional hub. This location makes Ipswich a popular area for Queenslanders looking for a more affordable alternative to Brisbane’s metro suburbs.
- Major suburbs: Ipswich, Springfield Lakes, Brassell, Rosewood, Redbank Plains
- Vacancy rate (Dec 2025): 0.7%
- Rental yield (Dec 2025): 3.6% for houses, 4.7% for units
- Five-year population growth: 11.7%
Cairns Region LGA
The Cairns Region is the centre of Far North Queensland, home to just under 170,000 residents. The area boasts affordable living costs, a lush tropical climate and growing employment opportunities in sectors like healthcare, tourism, hospitality and construction.
- Major suburbs: Cairns, Babinda, Edmonton, Palm Cove, Fitzroy Island, Green Island
- Vacancy rate (Dec 2025): 0.8%
- Rental yield (Dec 2025): 4.5% for houses, 5.9% for units
- Five-year population growth: 5.1%
What are the cheapest Queensland regions to invest in 2026?
Cotality’s August regional market update analyses the performance of properties in regions outside of Australia’s capital cities. Based on median house price alone, these are the cheapest regions in NSW, outside of Greater Brisbane.
Rank | Region | Median dwelling value |
1 | Emerald | $559,842 |
2 | Kingaroy | $599,163 |
3 | Maryborough | $612,349 |
4 | Gladstone | $620,238 |
5 | Warwick | $637,546 |
6 | Rockhampton | $653,614 |
7 | Townsville | $684,866 |
8 | Mackay | $688,972 |
9 | Bundaberg | $692,667 |
10 | Cairns | $746,598 |
Source: Cotality, August 2026. Regional areas must have a population of 10,000 or more people to be considered.
According to Cotality data, the median dwelling value across all of regional Queensland is $852,037 as of August 2026.
This is significantly cheaper than the median value for Greater Brisbane, which Cotality lists as $1,104,094.
What to consider when looking for an affordable suburb in regional Queensland
Of course, house and unit prices are a key consideration for buyers on the hunt for a cheap place to live in Queensland.
Beyond price, though, it’s generally important to look at the following factors when comparing towns and suburbs:
- Sales volume
- Potential population growth
- Vacancy rates
- Rental yields
- Potential rental growth
- Local infrastructure and amenities
