‘Affordable’ capital city area just sold a house for shock price

A home in one of the most affordable pockets of a major Australian capital city has just sold for $4m, smashing its suburb median by more than $2.45m.

The suburb – in a satellite city long considered an entry point for families priced out of the inner city – saw 76 homes sell in the past year at a median of $1.55 million.

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A real estate agent well known in Brookwater, Irena Marasea from Irena Property sold this home called Casa Blanca for $4m – a new suburb record. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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Gentrification is spreading fast as inner city suburbs become less affordable, with outer areas of capital regions seeing strong growth. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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Agent Irena Marasea, founder of Irena Property, obliterated the suburb record by more than $1m when she sold the Birchwood Crescent home in Brookwater for exactly $4m.

“I never imagined that one day a home would sell in Ipswich for this sort of money,” Ms Marasea said. “It is not the middle of nowhere anymore.”

The previous record of $2.906m was set just 23 months ago – a five-bedroom home on Scenery Court, sold in July 2024.

The new record holder, named Casa Blanca, was custom-built by Bianca and David Mulligan, who lived there for four years before deciding to sell. The home overlooks the 13th fairway at Brookwater Golf Course.

Seller Bianca Mulligan was a student of Three Birds Renovations. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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The design makes the most of its green surroundings. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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“I had buyers looking for an amazing Brookwater home for more than three months and nothing seemed to fit, but then they walked into Casa Blanca and all but made a decision on the spot,” Ms Marasea said.

While some suburbs within Ipswich still carry median house prices under $600,000, Brookwater’s median has climbed to around $1.55m – up 10 per cent in the past year, placing the $4m record at roughly two-and-a-half times the suburb’s own typical sale price.

For context, $4m falls below the median house price in some of Australia’s most expensive suburbs – Melbourne’s Toorak median sits at $4.34m and Sydney’s Manly median at $5m.

The home has high end specs. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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The classic entryway. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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The result attracted more than 15,000 reactions on Facebook, with one local commenting: “In a market where clearance rates are less than 30 per cent and it’s sooooo slow – you pull this off.”

Ms Marasea, who has more than 21 years of experience in Brookwater and the surrounding suburbs with more than 700 sales, said the area’s appeal ran far deeper than golf course views.

“Residents here are not strangers to each other,” she said. “The other day I heard a story about one Brookwater resident badly injured in a car accident who never mowed his lawn for 18 months because his neighbours were quietly doing it for him. In many areas people don’t look out for one another – here they do.”

Irena Marasea sold this home called Casa Blanca for $4m to a member on their VIP database. Picture: Supplied/Darren Kerr Photography

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