A new train station shortens daily commutes while increasing property prices, but long after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, can infrastructure alone keep buyers coming back for more?
Experts say fresh infrastructure, particularly transport like ferries, train lines, light rail and airports, is an advantage, but can’t insulate a market from wider forces.
The challenge is avoiding a so-called infrastructure hangover, when prices drop or stabilise after the hype wears off and a suburb slips into the rhythm of a broader downturn.
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Planning experts say greenery, walkability and places for community members to connect need to go hand in glove with infrastructure and housing to create the appeal that drives lasting buyer demand.
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee says transport infrastructure affects the property market in several stages. The largest price boost comes well before the tradies and their jackhammers arrive.
“When the project is confirmed, that tends to have the biggest impact because that’s when people really feel like it’s going to go ahead,” she says.
Noise and disruption during the building phase can temporarily pause price growth, but Conisbee says there is a small uplift again when a project is finished.
In Queensland, buyers have been enticed by the promises of Olympic Games investment. Brisbane’s house prices have exploded since 2021, when it was announced as the 2032 host, and experts don’t expect the market to slow when the Games end.
The CBRE report Brisbane 2032: Separating the Real Estate Myths from Realities shows population growth and housing undersupply are set to maintain price momentum.
Zed Nasheet of the Gold Coast’s Zed Real Estate is bullish about south-east Queensland’s prospects, but warns buyers not to get swept up in Olympic hoopla and pay too much.
The author of the advice book The Art of Closing Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime says affordable, entry-level prices still exist in Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast, which already have health facilities, transport and jobs.
Nasheet says a Brisbane suburb to watch is Kuraby, whose station is set to be upgraded as part of the $5.75 billion Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project.
“Smart investors follow infrastructure, transport upgrades, population growth and employment hubs,” he says. “Those fundamentals are what create sustainable long-term value.
“Do not overpay for it. Study the market prior to making a purchase.”
Victoria’s $21 billion Level Crossing Removal Project, established in 2015, has improved safety and property values. Conisbee’s research references Victorian Planning Authority figures showing home values within 400 metres of a removal site climbed 4 to 7 per cent. The most pronounced gains came after completion.
Domain research last year revealed houses within 400 to 800 metres of a North West Metro station sold for up to 39 per cent more than comparable houses further away, led by Bella Vista (39 per cent), Norwest (23.6 per cent) and Hills Showground (21.4 per cent).
Ray White’s analysis also found the Metro sparked a widespread price boom from 2019 to 2021. Eleven areas along the North West line, which opened in 2019, saw the highest median growth at 43.75 per cent, outperforming Sydney’s 39.66 per cent increase. However, between September 2024 and September 2026, those prices dropped by 5.07 per cent, against a 2.40 per cent decline for Sydney.
“The biggest challenge we have is untangling what is being driven by the infrastructure, and then what’s being driven by other market factors,” Conisbee says. “That makes it quite hard to look at the nuances of what’s happening to pricing.”
Gandhi estimates homes within walking distance of a station still command about a 10 per cent premium. “We advertise how many metres to the Metro because it’s an important decision for people to make,” he says.
It’s important that growing neighbourhoods can cope. Gandhi says higher density development around the Metro has put population pressure on local schools, and some have moved their enrolment boundaries as a result.
The NSW government recently announced that it will share up to $73 million in essential infrastructure funding among 44 councils. This is a “great start”, says Property Council of Australia NSW executive director Katie Stevenson, but it won’t close gaps on its own.
“Cities evolve; they’re never static, they never stand still, so we constantly need to be upgrading and building new infrastructure that meets the needs of our growing city,” she says.
Stevenson says that, for the best outcome, developers, councils and state bodies need to coordinate approval processes, timelines and budgets.
“The most successful places have key infrastructure at the beginning, but they’re also able to evolve as the community evolves, because each community develops its own unique patterns and preferences over time,” she says.
This is where architects like Phillip Rossington, a principal at BVN Architecture, come in. “When you’re involved at the start, there’s a vision created for the whole precinct,” he says. “And I think that’s the other thing people have to realise: these are long-term visions.”
Rossington says the City of Sydney’s Green Square – which rejuvenates 278 hectares of former industrial land and for which BVN designed Green Square Public School – shows how a well-planned precinct can develop harmoniously over decades.
The town centre is the first to be built in Sydney in a century, and by 2041 will be home to 63,000 residents who have access to transport, shops, a library, an aquatic centre, parks and plazas.
BVN is also behind Pyrmont Place, once a quarry and council depot, that will flourish with apartments and businesses, near the light rail, ferries and an upcoming Metro station. It’s adjacent to the studio’s $830 million redesign of the iconic Sydney Fish Market for Infrastructure NSW.
For Rossington, the signs of a successful precinct are easy to spot. “If there are trees growing, I can hear birds, and I can see people, then I think that’s it,” he says.
Emily Power Emily Power has been a newsroom journalist for almost 20 years. She was previously the editor of Domain magazine in Melbourne, and is a specialist in property reporting.
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