The Australian Bureau of Statistics puts the average cost of a new house completed in Queensland in 2024–25 at $458,868, on an average floor area of 230.9 square metres. That is the building work only, with no land in it. The ABS does not publish a bedroom count alongside those figures, but from building here we can tell you a 231 square metre detached floor plan on the Sunshine Coast almost always lands as four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double garage — so the average new Queensland house and the four-bedroom house are, in practice, the same house. Locally the number runs higher. In ABS building approvals for 2025–26, Queensland approved 27,205 new houses worth $14,343,751,000, an average of $527,247 per house; the Sunshine Coast Council area approved 1,864 new houses worth $1,115,088,000, an average of $598,223; and Noosa Shire approved 145 new houses worth $211,450,000, an average of $1,458,276.
What those ABS numbers actually measure
Before you use any of this as a budget, understand what sits inside each figure, because the two ABS series above are not the same measure and should never be mixed.
The average cost series in Building Activity, Australia, December quarter 2025, released 8 April 2026, measures the value of building work on dwellings completed in that financial year, state-wide. That is where $458,868 and 230.9m² come from. It does not include land, the cost of buying the site, or anything you buy after handover.
The local government area figures come from Building Approvals, Australia and are the estimated cost of the work stated when the building approval was lodged, again with no land in them. That is why the Queensland approval average of $527,247 sits above the Queensland completion average of $458,868: approvals lodged during 2025–26 are priced at today’s rates, while completions include houses contracted a year or two earlier. Where regions are compared below, both sides of the comparison are approval figures.
They are also averages across everything. Volume-built estate homes sit in the same number as one-off coastal houses, which is why the Queensland and Noosa figures are so far apart. And the direction of travel matters: the ABS average cost of a new Queensland house rose from $324,125 in 2021–22 to $458,868 in 2024–25, a 41.6 per cent increase across three financial years. If you are working off a number a friend paid before 2022, it is out of date.
Bedroom count and finish level: the cost matrix
No ABS series splits build cost by bedroom count, so the table below is built by arithmetic you can check yourself. Each column takes the ABS 2025–26 average approval value per new house for that area and divides it by the ABS average floor area of a new Queensland house, 230.9m² in 2024–25, to get a rate. Each row then applies that rate to a typical internal floor area for that bedroom count. Rates are rounded to the nearest $10 and the cells to the nearest $10,000.
| Home | Typical internal floor area | Standard spec, at the Queensland average rate (about $2,280/m²) | Coast custom, at the Sunshine Coast average rate (about $2,590/m²) | Architectural coastal, at the Noosa Shire average rate (about $6,320/m²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 bedroom | 120m² | $270,000 | $310,000 | $760,000 |
| 3 bedroom | 180m² | $410,000 | $470,000 | $1,140,000 |
| 4 bedroom, the ABS average new Queensland house | 231m² | $530,000 | $600,000 | $1,460,000 |
| 4 bedroom plus media room or study | 280m² | $640,000 | $730,000 | $1,770,000 |
| 5 bedroom | 320m² | $730,000 | $830,000 | $2,020,000 |
Three warnings on reading that table. The rates are derived from published ABS averages, not quoted by any builder, and nobody prices a house off a rate alone. The Noosa column overstates the rate at the small end, because Noosa houses are almost certainly larger than the 230.9m² state average, so dividing by that area inflates the per square metre figure — treat that column as the ceiling of the Queensland market rather than a price list. And the four-bedroom row is the only one that is not an extrapolation: in each column it is simply the published ABS 2025–26 approval average for that area, rounded. On the state-wide completions series rather than approvals, that Queensland row would read $458,868.
Why a four-bedroom build here costs more than the state average
On the same approvals basis, the Sunshine Coast average of $598,223 runs about 13 per cent above the Queensland average of $527,247, and the Noosa Shire average of $1,458,276 runs about 2.8 times it. That gap is not builders charging what they feel like. It is site conditions, code, and in Noosa’s case the small size of the sample.
- Wind. Wind classification under AS 4055 Wind loads for housing steps up on exposed coastal blocks compared with a sheltered inland suburb. A higher class means more bracing, heavier tie-downs from roof to footing, and door and window hardware rated to suit.
- Corrosion. AS 4312 sets atmospheric corrosivity categories, and a block a short walk from the surf at Coolum Beach, Yaroomba or Marcus Beach sits in a severe marine category. That drives 316 stainless fixings, marine grade finishes on balustrades and hardware, and upgraded roof, flashing and gutter specifications.
- Footings. AS 2870 Residential slabs and footings governs the site classification. Coastal sand with a high water table and reactive clay in the hinterland both push you off a standard slab and towards screw piles, deeper edge beams or a suspended floor.
- Bushfire. Vegetated hinterland blocks around Ninderry or behind Marcus Beach can attract a bushfire attack level assessed under AS 3959 Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas, which changes glazing, screening, decking and subfloor detailing.
- Slope and access. Steep, narrow, view-oriented sites cost more in retaining, craneage and programme time. That is covered in our guide to building on a sloping block in Queensland.
- Planning overlays. The Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 and the Noosa Plan 2020 apply flood, coastal hazard, height and character controls that can set minimum floor levels and cap building envelopes, which in turn sets the structure you have to pay for.
- Sample size in Noosa. Noosa Shire approved only 145 new houses in the whole of 2025–26, against 1,864 on the Sunshine Coast. On a sample that small, a handful of large one-off houses moves the average a long way, so read the Noosa figure as a signal about the kind of house being approved there, not as a going rate.
You can see what the top of that range buys at Nairana Rest in Noosa Heads, and how we approach one-off homes on our new home builds Sunshine Coast page.
What the build cost does not include
The gap between an ABS build figure and the money that actually leaves your account is usually these items.
- The land, plus any demolition, earthworks or approved tree removal before you start.
- Council infrastructure charges. Sunshine Coast Council applies its Infrastructure Charges Resolution (No. 9) 2022, adopted under the Planning Act 2016 and the Planning Regulation 2017, to development applications decided on or after 28 March 2022. Noosa Shire Council adopts its own charges resolution, so confirm the current rate with the council before you budget.
- Building and plumbing approvals, private certification, engineering, soil testing, energy assessment and survey set-out.
- Service connections, meaning power, water and sewer or on-site treatment, and stormwater to a lawful point of discharge.
- Driveway, fencing, landscaping, pool and retaining, unless they are written into the contract scope.
Home warranty insurance is one cost that does sit inside your contract price, because the contractor pays the premium. The QBCC requires cover on most residential building work valued at more than $3,300 including materials, labour and GST, and a policy covers a maximum of $200,000 each for various conditions, with optional additional cover available.
The contract type decides what your number is worth
The QBCC requires a written contract for domestic building work priced over $3,300 including labour, materials and GST. For a new detached house or duplex the QBCC’s own form is the New Home Construction Contract. Its Level 1 contract ($3,301 to $19,999) and Level 2 contract ($20,000 and over) are renovation, extension and repair contracts for work on existing homes, so neither is the form for a new four-bedroom build. On a new home contract, and on any work priced at $20,000 or more, the contractor must give you a copy of the QBCC consumer building guide before you sign, the signed and dated contract within 5 business days of entering it, and the commencement notice within 10 business days of work starting on site.
Within that, a fixed price contract and a cost plus contract give you very different certainty for the same house. Read fixed price building contracts in QLD before you compare quotes, because two numbers that look alike can carry completely different risk. Provisional and prime cost sums are where most budget slippage starts, and every change after signing is a variation.
How to pressure-test a four-bedroom quote
Ask for the quote to be broken into square metres of living, garage, deck and porch, then work the rate out yourself and compare it with the derived rates above. Check whether the site costs are a real allowance built off a soil test and a contour survey, or a placeholder. Check what is a provisional sum. Ask what wind classification, site classification and any bushfire attack level the price assumes, because those three inputs set the structure. Then confirm the individual builder and the company are licensed for the class of work, using how to check a QBCC licence. Programme moves with the same variables, covered in how long it takes to build a house in QLD.
Roebuck Concepts works from one office at Coolum Beach, holds QBCC licence 15280811 and is a member of Master Builders Queensland. Our Grandview project at Coolum Beach won three awards at the Master Builders Queensland 2025 Sunshine Coast Housing and Construction Awards.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build a four-bedroom house in Queensland?
The ABS average cost of a new house completed in Queensland in 2024–25 was $458,868, on an average floor area of 230.9m². On the approvals side, the average value of a new house approved in 2025–26 was $527,247 across Queensland, $598,223 on the Sunshine Coast (1,864 houses worth $1,115,088,000) and $1,458,276 in Noosa Shire (145 houses worth $211,450,000). None of those figures include land.
Does that figure include the land?
No. Both ABS series measure the value of building work only. Land, council infrastructure charges, approvals, service connections and external works all sit outside them.
What is a realistic cost per square metre on the Sunshine Coast?
Dividing the ABS Sunshine Coast average approval value of $598,223 by the ABS average Queensland house floor area of 230.9m² gives about $2,590 per square metre, against about $2,280 using the Queensland approval average of $527,247. Coastal exposure, site classification and finish level move you up from there.
Why is Noosa so much higher?
Noosa Shire approved only 145 new houses in 2025–26, against 27,205 across Queensland. On a sample that small the average is set by a handful of large one-off homes on constrained coastal sites, and it lands at about 2.8 times the Queensland approval average per house.
Has the cost to build in Queensland stopped rising?
The ABS series still shows growth. The average cost of a new Queensland house went from $324,125 in 2021–22 to $458,868 in 2024–25, a rise of 41.6 per cent over three financial years. Price your project on current rates, not on what a neighbour paid.