Small home installed cost index, by SEQ council
The one number for each council: what the homes that fit its size cap cost installed on an easy block, median and lowest, with the region's median set at 100. The homes, the prices and the caps are the ones on this site, read from each maker's and council's own pages, so the index moves when they do.
· prices read 15 Oct 2026, council rules read 15 Oct 2026, built 16 Oct 2026
Installed cost index by council
For each of the 12 South East Queensland councils: the homes listed on this site that sit inside the council's size cap, the median installed price of those homes on an easy block, and the lowest. The index sets the median of the 12 council medians at 100, so a council at 95 has a median five per cent under the region.
| Council | Size cap | Homes that fit | Median installed | Index | Lowest installed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | 80 m² | 67 | $195,000 | 101 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Gold Coast | 80 m² | 67 | $195,000 | 101 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Ipswich | 60 m² | 59 | $191,000 | 99 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Lockyer Valley | 70 m² | 64 | $193,000 | 100 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Logan | 70 m² | 64 | $193,000 | 100 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Moreton Bay | 45 m² | 38 | $177,000 | 92 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Noosa | 65 m² | 62 | $193,000 | 100 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Redland | 85 m² | 70 | $197,000 | 102 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Scenic Rim | 60 m² | 59 | $191,000 | 99 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Somerset | 60 m² | 59 | $191,000 | 99 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Sunshine Coast | 60 m² | 59 | $191,000 | 99 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
| Toowoomba | No cap in the scheme | 83 | $210,000 | 109 | $119,000 (Studio 28, Roomi, 28 m²) |
How this was counted. 83 homes from 18 makers: section = home (kind not wheels, expander or site), basis <> 'kit', area >= 25, price published. Installed price is the maker's published price plus the install estimate for an easy block (flat, sewer, Brisbane, owner builder), the same function as /homes/ and /land/ (homes_build.installed). A home fits a council when its area is at or under the cap in data/council-caps. select c.name, count(*), min(m.price) from councils c join models m on m.area <= coalesce(c.cap_m2, 1e9) where m.kind = 'home' and m.basis <> 'kit' and m.area >= 25 and m.price is not null group by c.name -- then add easy_install(m) per row
The installed estimate is the same on every council, so the spread between councils is the size cap: a tighter cap drops the larger, dearer homes out. The lowest installed home across the region is $119,000. Kits are left out because a kit price is not a home price. Prices are inc GST and were read from each maker's website on the date shown on its page.
What moves the index
Three things. A maker changes a published price, and the site's price history records the old and the new with the dates. A maker lists a new home or drops one. Or a council changes its cap, which changes which homes fit. The install estimate is held the same for every council on purpose, so the index reads the market and the rules, not the ground: on a sloping block with no sewer the install side can cost as much again, and the free block check says which end a block lands.
The index is quarterly in name and continuous in practice: it is recomputed every time the site is built. The Small Homes Report takes a reading each quarter and keeps it.
Read it with care
- Installed means the maker's published price plus an estimate of approvals, footings, delivery and crane, plumbing and electrical on a flat sewered block in Brisbane, for an owner builder. A licensed builder signing for the whole job adds about $10,000 of insurance, levy and margin. The install buckets.
- A median is the middle home that fits, not the typical purchase. Half the homes that fit cost less.
- Kits are out: a kit price buys a kit, not a home. Tiny homes on wheels are out: they are vehicles, not dwellings, and no council cap applies.
- Where a maker's price is ex factory the page says so; where it says nothing, the home is compared at the price shown and flagged "ask what's included" on its page.
- RTA, median rents quarterly data (median weekly rent of new tenancies by postcode)
- RBA, lenders' interest rates (where to check the current rate against the 6 per cent assumption)
- Department of Housing and Public Works, Queensland Housing Code
- Queensland Government, secondary dwellings (renting to anyone since September 2022)
- Brisbane planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Gold Coast planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Ipswich planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Lockyer Valley planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Logan planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Moreton Bay planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Noosa planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Redland planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Scenic Rim planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Somerset planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Sunshine Coast planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
- Toowoomba planning scheme, secondary dwelling rule
Maker prices: each home's page on this site links the maker page and quotes the words the price was read from. Install estimate: the install cost guide. Homes for sale: each listing page links the agency's own page.
Published by Big Small Haus Research. Big Small Haus Pty Ltd is a licensed Queensland builder (QBCC 15506005) that installs modular homes and is listed on this site like every other builder, sorted by name. Nobody pays to be listed or ranked.