Brisbane more expensive than Melbourne?

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Melbourne is increasingly becoming more affordable than Brisbane when it comes to property prices, according to a development specialist.

Brett Gillan from Devine believes Queensland's capital is struggling to deal with an affordability crisis, in stark contrast to a decade ago when not a lot was happening.

While other capital cities were experiencing price increases in the mid-1990s, and the journey to unaffordable had well-and-truly begun for cities like Sydney, Brisbane was relatively flat.

But things changed dramatically about eight years ago, he said, and things haven't slowed down much.

He believes Melbourne's house and land packages are $50,000 to $60,000 cheaper than similar offerings in Brisbane.

"In many ways Melbourne is becoming increasingly more affordable than Brisbane," Mr Gillan told the Australia-Israeli Chamber of Commerce Property Forum yesterday.

Underlying demand for residential property is around 45,000 dwellings per year, and Mr Gillan said only half of that demand is currently being met, making property a sought-after commodity.

"This (affordability crisis) is certainly something Brisbane hasn't faced before, and it will be a challenge for us to solve," he said.

"We're simply not producing enough residential dwelling in Queensland, and certainly other parts of Australia."

With the increase in population and diversity of demograph, developer habits have changed - especially in high-density projects.

The city is seeing an annual influx of new arrivals of around 5000 each year, with the permanent population sitting around 203,000.

Of these new arrivals, most are young couples and singles that move to Brisbane for work reasons.