Australian house prices hit record high of $1.113 million
Australia’s median house price has hit a record $1.113 million, as the latest data reveals a mixed capital-city market with staggering price growth in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney, and a decline in Melbourne.
Against a backdrop of high interest rates, inflation, and the worsening cost-of-living crisis, the latest Domain House Price Report, released on Wednesday, shows the combined capitals’ median house and unit prices have jumped to record highs.
The bulk of the nation’s house price growth is being carried by Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney.
Brisbane and Adelaide’s median house prices have soared past $900,000 and are expected to hit the $1 million mark by the end of this year, potentially putting them on par with Melbourne, where the median house price has fallen back to $1.032 million.
Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell says she doesn’t expect Melbourne’s median house price to fall below $1 million, despite the latest quarterly results.
| Capital city | $$ value growth |
| Sydney | $162,302 |
| Melbourne | $7,578 |
| Brisbane | $102,952 |
| Adelaide | $122,970 |
| Canberra | $11,139 |
| Perth | $110,584 |
| Darwin | $10,914 |
| Combined capitals | $90,544 |
“We’re still expecting a more stable outcome for Melbourne prices. We’re not expecting them to see a significant dip,” she says.
“I’d say Melbourne will eventually be perceived as being undervalued simply because of all the massive growth in the other cities. Once we get to the next price cycle, Melbourne’s foundations for skyrocketing prices will be there.”
Powell says despite the record prices in some cities, the latest data indicates some of the heat is coming out of the market.
“Quarterly gains are about three times slower than the previous quarter and are now below half their historic average,” she says. “Momentum loss is evident across most of the capital cities, with house price gains slower over the March quarter compared to the previous quarter in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin.”
But that’s unlikely to translate into much in the way of better prices for hopeful buyers, Powell adds.
| Capital city | $$ value growth |
| Sydney | $46,090 |
| Melbourne | $24,465 |
| Brisbane | $80,313 |
| Adelaide | $70,666 |
| Canberra | -$16,724 |
| Perth | $62,526 |
| Darwin | $44,011 |
| Combined capitals | $39,155 |
“Prices are still rising, and what it showcases is the lack of supply that we have across Australia – and when you throw forward and think about building approvals at a 12-year low, that undersupply will continue to feel pain and place pressure on pricing.”
Brisbane engineer Darcy Modina feels lucky she bought her three-bedroom standalone house in May 2022. Her home has since increased by $100,000 in value, and Modina isn’t confident she would have been able to afford it if she had been trying to buy the same property today.
“We really got in at a good time,” she says.
When Modina, 28, and her husband were searching for properties, they felt that there wasn’t much available for their $650,000 budget and ended up buying in a suburb they had never considered.
They now live in Kuraby – a suburb in Brisbane’s outer south – where the median house price is $1.05 million.
In the past year, prices there have grown by 30.4 per cent (about $320,000) making it one of the strongest-growing suburbs in the nation.
“There’s a lot more competition out there,” Modina says. “It’s more difficult [to buy]. We’re lucky we got in. I am grateful we got in when we did.”
Sydney property prices
Powell describes Sydney’s property market as “unstoppable” after the city recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of house and unit price growth.
Sydney’s median of $1,627,625 was up 11.1 per cent year-on-year and 2.1 per cent over the quarter. Unit prices reached $806,137, up 6.1 per cent year-on-year and 1.9 per cent over the quarter.
“Sydney is much more expensive than other capital cities and it’s surprising that prices have fully recovered, but it’s also beyond that recovery,” Powell says.
Since its price trough in December 2022, Sydney’s median house price has gained almost $185,000.
Local real estate agent Taylor Bredin of Ray White Quakers Hill – Tesolin Group says there has been a “chronic shortage of supply and an oversupply of buyers”.
“When we look at the number of registered bidders at auction, we’re seeing an increased number of bidders this time compared to last year,” he says. “I was averaging five registered bidders last year, and this year we have about eight at every auction.
“Sellers are showing confidence because they know they’re getting a premium price for their home. In saying that, though, once they sell for a premium, they’re also having to buy at a premium. If they’re selling for $1.2 million, they’re buying for $1.8 million to $2.2 million.”
The gap between units and houses has widened, Powell says.
“Sydney has always been earmarked as the most expensive capital city to purchase, but now it costs twice as much to purchase a house than a unit,” she says.
“What that showcases is that Sydney really needs to fill in that gap of that missing middle of affordability to help make those additional steps onto the property ladder more seamless for all buyers.”
Melbourne property prices
Melbourne’s median house price slipped in the last quarter by 1.5 per cent – the steepest decline since September 2022 – wiping away most of its recent price gains. To get back to its pandemic price peak, the median house price still needs to recoup almost $62,000. Now, it sits at $1.03 million.
Unit prices also fell by 1.3 per cent to $564,000. Unit prices need to grow by almost $39,000 to recover fully from the downturn.
Local agent Jack Bongiorno of Marshall White isn’t surprised by Melbourne’s price slip, despite steady population growth fuelling demand.
“We have investors departing the market and not being replaced due to the crazy Victorian government land tax,” he says. “The tax issue in Victoria is hurting the property market.”
But Bongiorno doesn’t believe Melbourne will slip from its $1 million median any time soon. He says the development hurdles being faced by the city will “skyrocket” prices in the next year or two due to a “massive shortage of supply”.
Powell agrees and says it’s unusual for Melbourne to have a “long period of time where prices have pretty much done not a lot”.
“Melbourne and Sydney normally follow one another quite closely, and quite often, Melbourne sees greater rates of price growth than Sydney does, but that hasn’t happened,” she says.
“Melbourne is much more affordable than Sydney, and it will get to a point in time where buyers will perceive it as being undervalued, and that will be a turning point for Melbourne’s market.”
Brisbane property prices
Brisbane’s median house price is now $924,498 – nearly $103,000 more than it was this time last year and a whopping $324,000 more than it was four years ago.
There have now been five consecutive quarters of house price growth, lifting Brisbane’s annual gains to their steepest since September 2022. Unit growth is now at a 16-year high; the median price has risen by 17.1 per cent over the past year to a record $549,704.
In the Carindale SA3 region, which includes suburbs like Camp Hill, Carina Heights and Carina, house prices have soared by $243,000 over the past 12 months and by $42,500 in just the first three months of 2024.
Will Torres of Torres Property says buyer demand is still far outstripping the supply of property for sale in Brisbane.
“When you’ve got low stock, very high migration, a lot of international buyers – many of whom are paying significantly higher prices – people are trying to get into those markets but there’s a lack of stock there,” he says. “There’s not a lot coming on the market and it just drives prices up.
He says Carindale and its surrounds offers buyers, particularly families, “great value for money” – even now, after a $243,000 rise in the median house price.
“The prices have definitely gone up but that’s happened across the city. Prices have gone up more in Carindale, Carina, Camp Hill because compared to other parts of Brisbane, they’re still really good value.”
While Brisbane’s housing market has seen extremely strong growth over the past year – and especially the first three months of this year – Torres says he is already seeing a slight slow down in momentum.
“Interest rates being on hold and the not knowing of whether they’ll get cut this year … I think that’s taken a little bit of urgency out of the market,” he says. “But the minute that changes, it seems inevitable the market will take another jump up – so actually it’s now that people need to buy.”
Adelaide property prices
Adelaide’s house prices cracked the $900,000 price median for the first time over the March quarter; a significant milestone given its house price was $585,358 this time three years ago.
Unit prices have grown by a massive 15.9 per cent over the past year to a new median of $489,557.
“Adelaide has been the strongest capital city market. Prices have risen almost 69 per cent in five years,” Powell says.
Despite the eye-watering price growth, Powell says momentum is slowing.
“House prices rose one-third slower than the previous quarter, and units were five times slower,” she says.
Adelaide agent Brett Pilgrim of Harcourts Pilgrim agrees but says the slowdown is not happening everywhere.
“I think you’ll see [price] growth slow, but I don’t see [Adelaide] going backwards,” he says.
Pilgrim believes Adelaide is still seen as good value for money compared to other capital cities, even with continuous price growths.
“Interstate investors really have Adelaide on the radar because they can still achieve capital growth and also get a good rental return,” he says.
Canberra property prices
Canberra’s property market is on the road to recovery, according to the data, after house prices recorded a slight annual rise of 1.1 per cent to $1,049,719. However, it’s still about $113,000 away from its June 2022 price peak.
Local agent Mark Larmer of Suburbia Real Estate says a number of things need to happen for Canberra to return to that “property boom”.
“We need a reduction in the available properties on the market … imagine if there were suddenly only two one-bedroom units available in the city compared to 40 options,” Larmer says. “This scarcity leads to increased activity, interest and offers, driving up sale prices.
“We’d then need interest rates to get to the point where money is cheaper to boost [buyer] confidence. That’s the holy grail, to be at those levels.”
Powell likens the capital’s property market to Melbourne’s, noting that slow migration into the cities has impacted property prices.
“Both the ACT and Victoria are losing more people to other states and territories than they are gaining, and that negative flow is weighing on the housing market, particularly for the ACT,” she says.
Perth property prices
Perth’s housing market is now the top performer nationwide.
It is outperforming every other capital city market, with house prices reaching $777,921, up 16.6 per cent in 12 months – the steepest annual growth of all cities.
Similarly, its unit market was up even further, at 17.2 per cent over12 months, to $425,638.
“These are conditions that we haven’t seen since the mining boom in Perth,” Powell says.
The Armadale SA3 region is the best-performing region in Australia. Units there went up 32.1 per cent (or by $87,500) in 12 months, while houses went up 26.7 per cent, which equates to $115,000 in value.
Powell anticipates Perth’s property market will continue rising.
“The affordability barrier is much less in Perth compared to other capital cities, and the fact that it continues to see strong rates of population growth from both interstate and overseas, as well as having a very tight rental market, will continue to place pressure on pricing and we’ll likely continue to see the rise,” Powell adds.
Darwin property prices
House prices in Darwin stumbled by 8.6 per cent over the quarter, its third consecutive quarterly decline. Prices now sit at $573,856.
“Despite the fluctuations, house prices are 1.9 per cent higher than a year ago,” Powell says.
Units grew 5.8 per cent to $387,507, its fourth consecutive quarter of growth.
“This has accelerated annual gains into double digits [12.8 per cent] and is the steepest since mid-2022,” Powell says.
Despite this growth, Darwin continues to be the cheapest capital city in which to buy a unit.
*Due to reliability concerns, median price data for Hobart is not available.
– with Ellen Lutton
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