Revealed: Where landlords thrive in NQ

The unit at 1/173 Nathan St, Cranbrook, is for lease for $360 per week. Picture: realestate.com.au

The average Queensland property investor doesn’t live in an inner-city hotspot, but deep in the suburbs with fresh data revealing the Townsville region alone was home to about 15,000 landlords.

Exclusive analysis of Australian Taxation Office figures released this year found the 4819 postcode, covering Magnetic Island, had the highest density of investors in the Townsville region at 17 per cent of its 1600 residents declaring rental income on their annual tax return.

Coming in second was 4810, including suburbs such as North Ward, Townsville City and Railway Estate, with 15 per cent of its 14,500 residents investors.

Third at a density of 14 per cent was 4850, covering a multitude of suburbs and towns including Ingham, Abergowrie and Halifax.

Chandler, in Brisbane’s east was home to the highest density of investors in the state, at 24 per cent, with neighbouring Burbank and MacKenzie taking the next spot.

Real Estate Institute of Australia president Leanne Pilkington said what stood out the most about the biggest postcodes for property investor numbers was that few of them would be considered overly affluent.

“I’m surprised by the areas, they are just not high-net worth areas,” Ms Pilkington said.

“The conversation is always around rich landlords and this data is demonstrating that the landlords really are just mum and dads.”

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Real Estate Institute of Australia president, Leanne Pilkington. Picture: Supplied

CEO of research firm InvestorKit, Arjun Paliwal, said buyers looking to invest in 2025 were still coming from a wide variety of classes, despite the surging cost of living making it harder to buy a home.

“The majority of property investors we see are your everyday mums and dads in suburban capital city environments,” he said.

“They’re looking to build wealth, protect financial interests, and they see property wealth as a good market to do so.”

Mr Paliwal said while property markets were growing tighter, buyers looking to invest were still able to get ahead by buying in outer areas.

“A big mistake is that people [only] go in their backyard, or they end up buying units,” he said.

“Being borderless is one of the biggest reasons most investors are able to have success, because they’re able to understand what’s happening around Australia; able to make sense of what’s happening in different locations at different times.”

The Queensland postcode where investors brought in the highest annual gross rental amount was 4217 on the Gold Coast, at $156m, followed by 4350 in Toowoomba ($154m) and 4870 in Cairns ($140m).

In the Townsville region, investors collected a combined $286m in rent across one financial year.

The top performer was 4814, with a gross annual rental amount of $57m, then 4810 ($52m) and 4818 ($28m).

The home at 17 Lerida St, Kirwan, is for rent for $520 per week. Picture: realestate.com.au

Prpty360 property coach Julian Fadini said to get into the market, many younger buyers he met would lean on new ways to finance their investment homes.

“They’re focusing on generating or building their wealth – meaning they’re building their base, when they don’t necessarily have an elaborate base to build off of,” he said.

“They’ve either saved their deposit as rent-vestors, or bought a property in the owner-occupier market to leverage the equity off of that … [others] are often turning to their superannuation and making a combined fund to get into property.”

Mr Fadini said these risky plays were often a means of providing financial insurance for the future.

“They’re aware of the challenges that they face, and there’s pressure on household budgets – it’s very difficult to save to wealth,” he said.

“The idea of putting money into a bank account doesn’t hold any weight, they’re looking to put that money into assets that grow.”

The Sunshine Coast postcode 4572, making up Alexandra Headland, came in fourth place on the list.

Greater Brisbane postcodes took fifth, sixth and ninth place, with the Moreton Bay postcode of Bardon (4065) and the Central Queensland postcode of Duaringa (4712) in eighth and tenth place.

Each of the postcodes on the list saw a positive net rent income, except for number 7 — 4520, in the Mackay – Isaac – Whitsunday region.

The property at 109 Glenrock Drive, Rasmussen, is available for lease at $570 per week. Picture: realestate.com.au

Associated with the suburb Moranbah, the area was reported to receive a net rent income of negative $2.5m that year.

Mr Paliwal said a reason behind this might be that when specialised workers fly out, they often decide to rent out their properties in their home towns.

“Mining towns [often] have a newer tenure of investors,” he said.

“They may not live in this area for long; the population might be transient, the locals might be in and out … and as we know, the start of your investment journey is highly negatively geared.”

While several postcodes across regional Queensland had a population of investors below 5 per cent, the lowest investor percentage in Greater Brisbane came from the 4008 postcode.

This postcode is used for Pinkenba and the Brisbane Airport, with its investor population at 6.6 per cent and a net rent of -$6,996.

The data was discovered by analysing records from the 2023 financial year.

During that year, the 4217 postcode – home to Gold Coast suburbs such as Surfers Paradise – reported the most net income in rent, coming in at $30.6m.

Of the area’s 32,000 residents, nearly 13 per cent of them are investors, with 66 per cent of this rent reported to be positively geared.

Meanwhile, the most negative net income was the 4300 postcode, home to suburbs such as Brookwater and Springfield.

Net rent was reported to be around -$8 million, with a population of 44,500 and 9.3 per cent reporting rental income. Of these investors, a total of 62.8 per cent reported their property was negatively geared.

With both sides of net income are accounted for, the state median income for rent totals at $293,820, with an average of $1.4 million.

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