Why Brisbane is emerging as Australia’s standout office market

Brisbane is emerging as one of the strongest-performing office markets in the Asia-Pacific region, with a combination of rapid rental growth, attractive investment yields, population expansion and constrained new supply strengthening the case for capital deployment in Queensland. 

Cushman & Wakefield research shows Brisbane recorded prime net effective office rental growth of approximately 19 per cent over the year to the second quarter of 2026, more than twice Melbourne’s rate and nearly five times Sydney’s. At the same time, Brisbane’s prime office yield of 7.4 per cent remains the highest of Australia’s major office markets.  

The performance is also increasingly significant on an international basis. Brisbane recorded annual office rental growth of 13.6 per cent on the Asia-Pacific comparison contained in the research, placing it behind only Tokyo among the major office markets assessed.  

Cushman & Wakefield’s Queensland Managing Director Ben McGrath said this combination was changing how investors viewed Brisbane relative to both Australian and international markets. 
“Brisbane is increasingly standing out on the global stage. Rental growth is leading Australia’s major office markets and ranks among the strongest globally, while investors continue to access Brisbane at a yield premium to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.  

“Global investors are not assessing Brisbane solely against Sydney and Melbourne. They are comparing opportunities across international markets, and Brisbane’s combination of strong rental growth, attractive relative yields and long-term economic and population growth is increasingly setting it apart.” 
The investment case is being underpinned by a broader expansion of the Queensland economy and population. Queensland has consistently outpaced national population growth since 2010, with forecasts indicating that trend will continue.  

South-East Queensland is forecast to reach six million people by 2046, requiring close to 900,000 additional homes and supporting about one million additional jobs. The expansion is also expected to require around two million square metres of additional office space across the region.  

Cushman & Wakefield Associate Director, National Research Jake McKinnon said the scale and composition of that growth was creating a deeper demand base for commercial property. 
“Queensland’s growth story is increasingly about more than population alone. South-East Queensland is developing into a much larger and more interconnected economic region, while the state’s industry base continues to diversify. 

“Resources and construction remain an important part of the economy, but growth over the next decade is expected to increasingly come from sectors including finance, professional services and healthcare . For commercial property, that broadens the occupier base and supports demand across not just office, but also healthcare, logistics and other sectors.” 
Professional services and finance alone are forecast to add about $24 billion in combined real gross value added by 2035, supporting further expansion of Queensland’s white-collar employment base.  

The supply side is also contributing to Brisbane’s rental performance. Despite strengthening occupier demand, the CBD faces a relatively constrained development pipeline over the next several years, while construction costs have risen sharply. Cushman & Wakefield said the combination was supporting rental growth and strengthening the position of existing high-quality assets.  

Mr McGrath said improving income fundamentals were beginning to translate into renewed investor interest. 
“The timing is important. Brisbane’s income fundamentals have strengthened considerably faster than asset pricing, creating a distinctive point in the cycle as investment markets stabilise. 

“We are already seeing institutional capital respond. Investors are recognising that Brisbane offers strong income growth while retaining relative value, and that combination is becoming increasingly difficult to overlook” he said. 
Infrastructure spending is expected to provide another long-term tailwind. Queensland has a $119 billion infrastructure investment program extending beyond 2032, with transport, connectivity and urban renewal projects expected to support economic and property market growth.  

Mr McKinnon said Brisbane 2032 should be viewed as an accelerator of investment already underway rather than the central reason for the city’s growth. 
“The Olympics are important, but the investment story extends well beyond the Games. The more significant property story is the infrastructure, connectivity and urban renewal being delivered around them, supported by a fixed deadline and a much broader pipeline of investment.” 
With rental growth having moved ahead of asset pricing, Cushman & Wakefield expects Brisbane to remain firmly on the radar of domestic and offshore investors as capital markets recover.  
“Brisbane’s outperformance is established,” Mr McGrath said. “The next phase is yet to be fully priced.”