With less and less land available for development in Brisbane’s inner city, the densification of the middle ring is the way of the future, said Jonathan Rivera, Colliers International residential research director.

That middle ring includes those suburbs within 10km of Brisbane’s CBD, and of which Rivera identified as the next area to cater for the region’s booming population in a recent report.

“By reducing lot sizes and building townhouses we will start to see the birth of the ‘middle makeover’,” Rivera explained.

Rivera said the middle suburbs will become increasingly attractive to developers and buyers, given their proximity to the city and efficient public transport systems.

Brisbane’s population is set to surpass 1.2 million residents by 2025, with the largest increase to occur in the next eight years. Rivera said the ageing population has driven a push to the bayside and outer suburbs.

The inner suburbs drew mostly from the 20 to 40–year–old age group, as well as wealthy professionals and less wealthy students and part–time workers. The five suburbs with the youngest median age were all close to the city – St Lucia, Nathan, Toowong, Kelvin Grove and Auchenflower.

The middle suburbs have more traditionally been popular with families, although there was no particularly dominant age group, according to Colliers.

The outer suburbs also have a high proportion of families, based on the large number of single dwelling houses and more reasonably priced property with a greater amount of space. The outer ring had the highest proportion of people aged 40 to 60, many of whom are empty nesters or Baby Boomers nearing retirement age, said Colliers.

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