Three suburbs on par with Sydney's median price: The 'quintessential' Aussie areas

Welcome to Sydney’s middle of the road – a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house 25 kilometres south of the CBD.

After five years of surging house prices pushing up the city-wide median, this is exactly what a typical, run-of-the-mill home in Sydney looks like. It sold in March for $1.15 million, in Kirrawee, one of just three suburbs that shares Sydney’s overall median price – also $1.15 million.

Of all the suburbs across Sydney, from the most expensive – Longueville with a $4,975,00 median – to the cheapest – Wilmot with a $468,500 median – Kirrawee, Beverly Hills and Bexley are unique because they are so average, each with a median price bang on $1.15 million.

Todd Hunter, founder of south-Sydney based buyer’s agency wHeregroup​, said this south Sydney trio of suburbs had been seen as cheap in the past but had since become trendy to younger families.

“Years ago, you never admitted that you lived in Kirrawee. You’d always say you lived near Gymea,” Mr Hunter said.

But now, he said, it was no longer a problem to make such an admission. Kirrawee is in fact more expensive than Gymea, which has a median house price of $1,057,500.

Mr Hunter said very tight stock levels had kept values rising in the area, but he wasn’t sure how much higher house prices could get.

“It’s right next door to good areas and is being bought up because of the fear of missing out,” he said.

The three-bedroom house on 580 square metres at 24 Orana Avenue sold last month after it was put on the market for the first time in 40 years.

“It’s a family-oriented area and buyers have been paying a premium over the past year,” Stephen Terides, director of LJ Hooker Gymea, said.

“There’s not a great deal under $1 million unless it’s on a main road.”

In December 2016, $1.15 million stretched to a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 343 square metres in Bexley.

While in February a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on 613 square metres in Beverly Hills sold for $1.13 million. 

Many of the buyers in these types of suburbs are families, often upgrading from an apartment and looking for a relatively affordable house, Gunning Real Estate principal Malcolm Gunning said.

Despite the $1.15 million price tag, Mr Gunning said they were affordable compared to other suburbs within 25 kilometres of the CBD.

“They don’t have any headlining factors, they aren’t near the water and they don’t have views,” he said. And, they’d largely been seen as “unfavourable areas” in the past.

What they do have going for them is decent transport links and a variety of housing styles – including homes on 400 square metres. 

“​They’re ideally suited for your quintessential Australian lifestyle,” he said.

Kirrawee, in particular, is undergoing substantial change and development.

By 2018, construction is expected to be complete on stage one of South Village – a Deicorp development of 749 apartments over 4.5 hectares and a shopping centre.

Stage one has sold out, with stage two expected to see one-bedroom apartments from mid-$500,000s, two-bedrooms from low-$700,000s and three-bedrooms from $995,000.

A host of other suburbs also hover around Sydney’s median mark. Nudging just slightly past it is Mortdale, also in Sydney’s south, with a $1,155,500 price tag.

And the upper north shore’s Oatlands and Mount Colah ranked just below the city-wide figure, with $1,142,000 and $1.14 million medians respectively.