Act now to bolster properties and infrastructure:  Because the value of low-lying homes in South-East Queensland could take a nasty hit because of rising sea levels and more powerful storms caused by global climate change.

That is the message of a new study from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and University of Queensland.  The researchers say homeowners and communities collectively could save billions of dollars by acting now to deal with the future.

That future includes sea-level rises of up to 20cm by the year 2030 and 50cm by the year 2070.  If a 100-year flood occurs then, 227 thousand people will be at risk, not to mention roads, water, sewers, power, et cetera.

The study is called “Housing Shadow Prices in an Inundation-prone Suburb”, and it analyses an unnamed inner-Brisbane suburb off the riverfront, and within 5 kilometres of the Central Business District.  More than 60 thousand real life properties will exist in the same circumstances, given population and migration trends.