Ugly duckling to prized homes: Inside a Brisbane suburb’s transformation

Microbreweries, coffee roasters, family pubs and million-dollar homes – it’s hardly the modern metropolis that comes to mind when picturing Stafford.

But the once working-class northern suburb has emerged as a typical example of Brisbane’s rapid middle-ring gentrification, spurred by a post-pandemic influx of young families and the ensuing property price surge.

And the transformation has only just begun, if a broad suburb overhaul from a private developer gets underway.

In the city’s north, the Kedron Brook serves as a brutal boundary between the idyllic hillside Queenslanders in Wilston and Grange, and the panelbeaters in Stafford’s industrial estate and tired homes saddling congested main roads.

Stafford’s median house price has surged more than 80 per cent since 2020 from $670,000 t