{"id":418034,"date":"2026-01-17T00:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/418034\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T00:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:55:14","slug":"brisbane-residents-swap-apartments-for-boats-as-the-cost-of-housing-continues-to-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/418034\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane residents swap apartments for boats as the cost of housing continues to rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jordan Koursaris is living the dream, but his inner-city home looks a little different to the apartments and houses that overlook the Brisbane River.<\/p>\n

After getting divorced in 2024, the 40-year-old moved out from his house and into an apartment, before deciding he did not like it.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jordan Koursaris says he has dreamed about \u00a0living on a boat for years. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

He then moved alone onto a 1966 boat he bought for $18,500 called Mary Rose.<\/p>\n

Mary Rose is moored at one of the 76 berths at Kangaroo Point’s Dockside Marina, which Mr Koursaris said costs him $1,455 per month, including power and water.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mary Rose was built in 1966 and has competed in five regatta races. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

“I do have a storage shed, that’s $150 a month, and I have a car space that’s $275 a month,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So it’s less than two grand a month; less than $500 a week, and that includes all my expenses.”<\/p>\n

Renting a unit in Kangaroo Point costs an average of $720, according to Domain’s December quarter data, with most renters also paying utility bills on top of that.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jordan Koursaris moved onto his boat six months ago, following a recent divorce. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

The realities of living on a boat<\/p>\n

For Mr Koursaris, living on a boat is not just about saving money \u2014 it is a lifestyle he had dreamed about for years.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always wanted to live on a boat. I went through a divorce and \u2026 lived in an apartment for a year and thought, now’s the time to do it,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I just wanted to test it out and see if I liked the lifestyle.”<\/p>\n

But life on the marina is not without its complications.<\/p>\n

Mary Rose is about 8 metres long and 2.5 metres wide. It’s compact, and Mr Koursaris has to duck his head while moving around the boat.<\/p>\n

“I don’t stand much \u2026 or at all,” he said.<\/p>\n

A bed is built into the bow, with an emergency escape hatch over the mattress.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The bed has an escape hatch overhead, in case of an emergency. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

Mr Koursaris said while the bed was “comfy”, he had recently struggled with a wood fungus growing under the bed.<\/p>\n

He had to treat it with a toxic epoxy, which meant he had to sleep on a bean bag in his office building for a night.<\/p>\n

The living area is compact, with two small benches serving as a bathroom and cooking space. A hollow, padded bench \u2014 the cabin’s only available seat \u2014 is also used as a storage space.<\/p>\n

One of the benchtops hosts a miniature rice cooker and hot plate set.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mr Koursaris says the miniature appliances he bought to furnish his compact kitchen make him feel like he’s “living in a doll-house”. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

“This makes me [feel] like I’m living in a doll house,” Mr Koursaris said.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t until after I got them that a friend said, ‘You know they’re for kids to learn how to cook?’\u2026 [but] they work.”<\/p>\n

Books and toiletries are crammed into nooks and crannies. A varnished wood chest holds his summer clothes, while his winter attire is kept in a storage space offsite, and the wardrobe is rotated according to the seasons.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

Mr Koursaris has been inventive while trying to fit life necessities onboard. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

The wood fungus on the bed is not the only challenge Mr Koursaris has faced since moving onto the boat.<\/p>\n

The business development manager has also struggled with regular power outages and hail-damaged solar panels in the six months he has lived onboard.<\/p>\n

But living on a boat was always a dream, and now he is living it and planning to upgrade to a larger vessel by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The living area on Mary Rose is compact. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

A ‘fun new experience’<\/p>\n

His neighbour, Josh Goodswen, is also a recent divorcee and has been living on a boat for a month.<\/p>\n

Mr Goodswen said he and his ex-wife had previously lived in Noosaville and Sydney, and estimated he is now spending “a third” of his previous living expenses.<\/p>\n

“I just thought I’d be in for a bit of an adventure \u2026 I thought, ‘hey, time to branch off,'” he said.<\/p>\n

“The berthing rent is really economical. If you look at some of the apartments around, they’re paying quite substantial rents.”<\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/p>\n

Mr Koursaris continued to downsize, moving from a house, into a unit, then onto Mary Rose. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

Sam Dunmore lives on the next finger over. The 22-year-old is among the younger residents at the marina.<\/p>\n

“It’s my parents’ boat \u2026 we used to have it moored on the Gold Coast, just sitting there, not doing anything,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to live in the city \u2026 and I chose to live on the boat because it would be a fun new experience.”<\/p>\n

If the retail worker rented an apartment like his friends, he said he would be spending much more.<\/p>\n

Cotality data shows weekly rent in Brisbane averages $708, while Domain’s latest quarterly rent report found prices rose 3.1 per cent in the December quarter.<\/p>\n

“Compared to owning or renting \u2014 with all the extras on top of that \u2014 it’s a lot cheaper,” Mr Dunmore said.<\/p>\n

Rent rises by almost 50pc in five years<\/p>\n

Cotality’s executive research director for the Asia Pacific, Tim Lawless, said he estimates renters in Brisbane would be spending more than a third of their gross income on rent.<\/p>\n

Brisbane rents growing faster than other major cities<\/a><\/p>\n

The median asking price for a rental house in Brisbane rose by more than 3 per cent last quarter.<\/p>\n

“The cost of renting has increased by around 49 per cent over the past five years. In dollar terms, that means renters in Brisbane are paying about $225 more a week than they were back in December 2020,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’re up 50 per cent across regional Queensland.”<\/p>\n

Buying property is also out of reach for many Australians, with an average house in Queensland’s capital now setting buyers back $1.13 million. An average unit costs $807,161, according to Cotality.<\/p>\n

“While it’s a little out of the box, a houseboat might be a practical and affordable option, even though it does come with its own challenges,” Mr Lawless said.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Mr Koursaris uses disposable utensils, to reduce washing up in the boat\u2019s small sink. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

Increase in permanent boat residents<\/p>\n

Dockside Marina manager Ken Allsop said he had seen more people residing at the marina in recent years, with boats spanning from 10 metres up to 25 metres.<\/p>\n

He estimated a third of the boats docked are permanently lived in by the owners, many of whom utilise the bathrooms, showers and laundry in amenities blocks.<\/p>\n

\"Boats<\/p>\n

Ken Allsop estimates a third of the boats docked at Kangroo Point’s Dockside Marina are permanently lived in. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

“When I got involved with the marina \u2026 it was 75 per cent vacant,” Mr Allsop said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a nice lifestyle, it’s a waterfront apartment for nowhere near the millions that some people spend.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mr Koursaris is planning to upgrade to a larger vessel by the end of the year. (ABC News: Crystalyn Brown)<\/p>\n

For Mr Koursaris, his six-month trial of living on the water has been largely positive, and he is now planning to upgrade to a larger boat.<\/p>\n

But he admitted he could eventually move back into a house or unit “at some point”.<\/p>\n

“Living on a boat is very fun \u2026 sometimes it’s not too practical, but I’m enjoying it at the moment.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jordan Koursaris is living the dream, but his inner-city home looks a little different to the apartments and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,8272,220407,99,220408,7688,86942,110576,220409,107228,11135,33758,33755],"class_list":["post-418034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boat","tag-boat-life","tag-business","tag-dockside-marina","tag-housing","tag-housing-costs","tag-kangaroo-point","tag-living-on-a-boat","tag-marina","tag-renting","tag-yacht","tag-yachting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}