While there’s a steady spread of pricing levels for Brisbane’s property lawyers between the $350 to $850 per hour mark a closer look sees market participants essentially operating at either the “top” or the “bottom” of the market when it comes to pricing.
Hourly Rates
Brisbane’s property lawyers tend to gravitate towards one of two basic pricing figures – $500 per hour or $650 per hour. The predictable correlation between larger firm and higher hourly rate does exist however it’s significantly less than should reasonably be expected.
Brisbane Property & Real Estate Lawyers Pricing (Hourly Rates)
| Hourly Rate | Market Share |
|---|---|
| $350 - $400 | 6% |
| $400 - $450 | 9% |
| $450 - $500 | 23% |
| $500 - $550 | 16% |
| $550 - $600 | 13% |
| $600 - $650 | 10% |
| $650 - $700 | 7% |
| $700 - $750 | 13% |
| $750 - $800 | 0% |
| $800 - $850 | 3% |
Alternative Pricing
The above talk of hourly rates is somewhat academic. Sure 97% of the market stated that they’d moved away from the hourly rate in the past twelve months but perhaps more significant is the frequency at which they did so. Aligning with the pricing mechanisms their clients are subject to the 100% of individuals reported using fixed pricing and 97% reported the use of capped fees. Hybrids of hourly rates and these two models were equally as common.
What was surprising given the resurgence in the aggressive developer market was only 31% of firms reporting the use of outcome or performance based fees
23% of the market reported using retainer agreements and anecdotally this was concentrated on leasing matters.