Elizabeth Tilley, Property Journalist
First published 23 Oct 2026, 5:00am
A circa-$10m off-the-plan apartment deal in Redcliffe has highlighted a dramatic shift in Queensland’s housing market, as buyers increasingly choose apartment living over houses — and pay millions for the privilege.
The buyer, who had been living in Newstead and was returning to Redcliffe, bought about 600 sqm in Gardner Vaughan Group’s One Redcliffe development across two titles, although most buyers are now opting for less space.
Gardner Vaughan Group has sold a unit in its One Redcliffe project off-the-plan for $10m.
Gardner Vaughan Group director Sam Gardner said the developer had recorded a marked shift in the size and configuration of apartments sought by downsizers in just four years, as buyers became more realistic about how much space they actually needed.
About four years ago, GVG’s most popular downsizer product was a four-bedroom apartment of about 160 sqm.
Two years ago, that had fallen to about 140 sqm with three bedrooms.
Now, Mr Gardner said the sweet spot was closer to 120 sqm with three bedrooms.
“What this is, is the downsizer maturing,” Mr Gardner said. “The initial thought was second bedroom for guests, third for grandkids, fourth for a study.
“In reality, guests don’t stay, grandkids visit a few times a year including Christmas and, when it comes to study and storage, we can make it smaller — you don’t need a whole bedroom.”
Sam Gardner of Gardner Vaughan Group.
The changing demands come as apartments are expected to play an increasingly important role in accommodating Queensland’s growing population, particularly as detached houses on large blocks become increasingly difficult to afford in established areas.
But Mr Gardner said the shift towards apartment living was not simply being driven by affordability.
GVG, which operates across southeast Queensland, has deliberately focused much of its business on downsizers and increasingly sees demand from buyers who want to leave behind the maintenance of a large family property without leaving the suburb or region where they have built their lives.
“We don’t think people want to move out of the area they grew up in,” he said.
“They feel safe, it’s convenient, their friends are in the same suburb, the convenience store, the pub — it all remains the same.
“The value proposition is a lot easier when you’re not having to move.”
Ocean views from one of the apartments in One Redcliffe, Gardner Vaughan Group.
That trend is helping create significant apartment markets well beyond Brisbane’s traditional inner-city development areas.
Mr Gardner nominated established coastal centres including Mooloolaba and Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe in Moreton Bay as areas positioned to attract further apartment development, particularly where residents already have access to transport, shopping and established services.
Mr Gardner said GVG had since signed another two expressions of interest in One Redcliffe at prices about 25 per cent higher than equivalent values two years earlier, with enquiry strengthening in September after a softer period for the broader market.
“There’s absolutely still activity,” he said. “Maybe spring is in the air, but we’re seeing it come back stronger in September.”
Mr Gardner said many older homeowners no longer wanted to spend their weekends maintaining swimming pools and gardens, instead prioritising travel and leisure.
That shift could accelerate as Australia enters what is expected to be an enormous transfer of wealth between generations over coming decades.
The pool in One Redcliffe by Gardner Vaughan Group.
Mr Gardner said the next stage could see downsizers not only buying apartments for themselves, but using accumulated family wealth to help their adult children into property or purchase investment apartments.
“There’s going to be the biggest transition of generational wealth over the next 20 years,” he said.
Traditional downsizers increasingly wanted to “just enjoy their weekends”, travel or take cruises rather than maintain a large property, he said.
At the same time, many of their children would already own homes by the time wealth was passed down, potentially directing some of that money towards investment properties or new apartments for the next generation.
The challenge for Queensland will be ensuring enough of those apartments are built.
Mr Gardner said the economics of development currently favoured larger, more expensive residences because they could generate substantially greater returns than smaller one and two-bedroom apartments.
That had resulted in some valuable inner-city sites being developed with only a handful of large residences on each floor when significantly more homes could potentially have been accommodated.
“I look and go, ‘What a waste of opportunity here. You could have put 100 units on there,’” he said.
“The reason it doesn’t happen is because the commercial outcome of selling a larger property is much more attractive.”
GVG continues to include one and two-bedroom apartments across its developments, which Mr Gardner said also helped projects reach the presale thresholds required for funding.
He said the changing economics of housing meant Queensland would ultimately need to become comfortable with substantially more apartment living.
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