Australia's 10 most expensive suburbs soar by up to 55 per cent in 2021

This year has been an extraordinary year for Australian real estate and, it’s fair to say, it took most people by surprise.

Off the back of a global pandemic and armed with low interest rates and government incentives, the property market took off in 2021 like the proverbial frog in a sock.

Across the nation, house prices rose at their fastest rate on record – from the capital cities to regional towns – and prices that seemed jaw-dropping in January very quickly looked like bargains by April.

Nowhere was this more evident than in Australia’s wealthiest suburbs.

Knight Frank Australia estimates Australia’s prime market – considered to be the top 5 per cent of property values – averaged 9.3 per cent annual growth over the 12 months to September. Sydney’s prestige market ranked second globally ahead of New York, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles.

Some of Australia’s richest suburbs have grown by astonishing amounts. For example, house prices in Bronte, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, soared by 55.1 per cent in the 12 months to September.

House prices in Manly skyrocketed by 37.2 per cent and Killara by 35.7 per cent within the same 12-month period.

Bellevue Hill is the most expensive suburb in Australia with a median house price of $6.625 million, and Vaucluse is not far behind with a median of $6.3 million.

Some of its past and current notable residents include the Fairfax family, Kerry Packer, James Packer, Lachlan Murdoch and Toni Collette.

These are not the suburbs for your everyday Australian. These are the suburbs where, if your neighbours sell up, you don’t just throw them a farewell party, you buy their property too.

William Manning of McGrath Double Bay described the Sydney eastern coastal market as “the most aggressive marketplace in Australian real estate” and tipped Bronte, currently ranked the third-most-expensive suburb, to overtake Bellevue Hill and Vaucluse to become Australia’s most expensive suburb.

“Bronte will very soon rival for the number one position,” he said.

“This [house price growth] is primarily being driven by the enormous wealth coming out of the tech and bitcoin sectors, where we’re seeing young business making massive amounts of wealth. It’s phenomenal.

“They’re making hundreds of millions, the kind of money that wealthy, established families took generations to accumulate. Some of these tech and bitcoin entrepreneurs are making that within a couple of years and they are aggressively pursuing prime waterfront locations in Sydney.”

Mr Manning said there had been a massive shift in momentum towards Sydney’s waterfront and coastal markets precipitated by the pandemic and Sydney’s extended lockdown with buyers demanding immediate lifestyle – beaches and cafes – outside their door.

Only one Victorian suburb made the top 10 list: Toorak, Melbourne’s original home of old money and still its number one pick for the city’s wealthiest residents. The suburb’s median house price is now $5.1 million.