Ascot and Chelmer homeowners share a common problem with those in Inala and Cleveland - their property values are affected by changes in rates of personal crimes such as assault and robbery in their suburbs.
But in middle-value suburbs, such as Grange and Greenslopes, it is rates of property crime, such as theft and unlawful entry, that have a greater impact on property prices.
These are the findings of an analysis of 30 Brisbane suburbs' crime rates and property values over 10 years to 2013 by QUT property economist Professor Chris Eves.
Professor Eves, from QUT's Science and Engineering Faculty, analysed a range of personal and property crime statistics for ten low-, ten middle- and ten high-value suburbs in inner Brisbane, middle ring and outer Brisbane, and compared them with median property prices, sales, and listings.
"The analysis showed a link between changes in crime rates and house prices, especially in low and higher value residential property markets, with the greatest impact in the lower value areas," he said.
"Crime rates and the types of crime vary according to the location of the suburb. Crime is higher in the outer low-value suburbs and the CBD fringe suburbs where personal crimes such as assault, robbery and drug offences are higher.
"Personal crime does not have the same impact in the middle-value suburbs of Brisbane, where property crimes appear to have a greater effect on prices.
"In the inner-city's high-value and middle-value suburbs, however, property damage and unlawful entry are of greater concern."
Professor Eves said previous studies had focussed on the effect on residential prices of positive attributes such as schools, transport, views and negatives such as air pollution, and aircraft and vehicle noise.
"Research on the impact of crime on property markets has also been ongoing but not as extensive as that on other property attributes.
"However, such research is likely to increase because social media, 24-hour media coverage of news has brought a general increase in the awareness of reporting and data associated with personal and property crime in particular locations.
"Queensland Police Service set up a website in 2012 that identifies total reported crime, crime type and details of whether they were solved at a general street location level, with the data able to be aggregated on a suburb and police region basis."
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT media, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.
