If it felt like Brisbane’s auction market briefly time-travelled back to 2021 over the weekend, you weren’t imagining it.
Crowded auction lawns, double-digit bidding wars and buyers pushing well past reserve prices have returned, just as Brisbane’s median house price hovers around $1.1 million, reigniting fresh anxiety about how much it now costs to get a foothold in the city.
Across dozens of auctions held on Saturday, buyer competition surged to levels more commonly associated with the COVID boom, with some homes attracting 20 registered bidders and selling hundreds of thousands of dollars above expectations.
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Place Auctioneer Sam Kelso said the atmosphere on the ground was intense.
“Demand is incredibly strong; it genuinely felt like scenes during COVID,” he said.
One of the clearest signals of how fast the market is moving came from Woolloongabba, a suburb now firmly in the spotlight as Brisbane’s next major infrastructure hub.
A vacant 385sqm block at 14 Heaslop Street sold for $1.225 million, after opening at $900,000 and attracting 13 bids from six registered bidders. The final price was $125,000 above reserve.
Kelso said: “Selling over reserve doesn’t automatically point to under-quoting. A reserve is simply the lowest price a vendor is prepared to accept, and it’s set based on market feedback before auction. In most cases, outcomes are negotiated live on the day.”
What’s raising eyebrows isn’t the reserve price, it’s the comparison: two identical blocks on the same street sold in the mid-$900,000s just last year.
So what’s changed?
Property experts point to a collision of forces, extreme land scarcity, new planning overlays, and major public infrastructure reshaping buyer expectations.
Woolloongabba is now at the centre of Brisbane’s Cross River Rail precinct, with stations nearing completion in 2026 and the suburb is earmarked as the heartland of the 2032 Olympic Games infrastructure projects.
The October 2025 amendment to the Woolloongabba Priority Development Area (PDA) fast-tracked 16,000 new homes which has tightened supply while increasing the long-term appeal for owner-occupiers and developers alike.
“When well-located inner-city land comes up, buyers don’t hesitate,” said Place New Farm agent Alex Rutherford.
“Opportunities like this are becoming rarer, and that scarcity is pushing prices higher.”
Place Woolloongabba agent James Curtain added: “Woolloongabba’s price movement is being driven by infrastructure certainty. Buyers are factoring in the delivery of the Cross River Rail Woolloongabba station, due for completion in 2026, along with broader upgrades linked to Brisbane’s Olympic preparations and entertainment precincts. When transport hubs and urban renewal are locked in on a defined timeline, buyers are willing to pay ahead of completion, particularly for family homes, land and well-located units that still offer relative value compared to houses.”
The new battleground: A-grade homes only
While demand remains strong overall, the competition is far from evenly spread with Brisbane’s new listings in early 2026 still 10 per cent lower than the same time last year according to Cotality’s latest property market indicator summary.
Agents say buyer pressure is now concentrating around a small pool of ‘A-grade’ homes; properties with land, location and lifestyle appeal that are increasingly hard to replicate.
That dynamic was on full display at 15 Bowles Street, Mount Ommaney, where 20 registered bidders fought over the home, producing 18 bids and a final sale price of $1.865 million, well above reserve.
“This was a highly desirable home in a tightly held pocket,” Place agent Paris Arthur said.
“When properties like this come up, buyers move fast because they know there aren’t many alternatives.”
A similar frenzy played out at 20 Gower Street, Holland Park West, which sold for $2.27 million after 55 bids, with all five registered bidders actively competing.
Why FOMO is back and why it’s different this time
While the scenes may look familiar, today’s FOMO is being driven by different fundamentals than the pandemic boom.
Instead of cheap money, buyers are responding to persistent undersupply, population growth and the realisation that Brisbane’s price floor has shifted higher.
Listing volumes across Brisbane remain well below long-term averages in early 2026, even as local buyer inquiry rebounds. That imbalance is forcing buyers to make quicker decisions and stretch further, particularly in suburbs linked to transport, employment hubs and future infrastructure.
Ms Rutherford said: “The fact all bidders were local suggests this cycle is increasingly being driven by Brisbane equity, with owner-occupiers backing their own city, particularly where land is scarce and long-term fundamentals are strong.
“At the same time, we’re still seeing solid interstate interest, with buyers investing in Brisbane well ahead of any plans to relocate.”
For buyers, the risk isn’t just overpaying … it’s missing out entirely.
READ: NRL icon Wally Lewis spotted house-hunting in Brisbane’s Bayside
