Australia's sought after postcodes defying the downturn – is your suburb bucking the trend?

When the property downturn began to take shape last year, it was Australia’s most expensive suburbs where the signs of decline showed up first.

Since then, some of Australia’s biggest price falls have occurred in premium postcodes like Cremorne and Clovelly in Sydney, Toorak and South Yarra in Melbourne, and Byron Bay in northern NSW.

This is not unusual – it’s often the most affluent suburbs that get a property boom started by rising first – but then they often lead the charge on the way back down. During 2020, house prices in Byron Bay rose by 37 per cent. In 2022, they fell by 17.8 per cent.

But there are always exceptions to the rule. While the downturn has since well and truly spread geographically outside of just premium suburbs and across to other capital city suburbs and into the regions, there are pockets of premium areas that are holding up exceptionally well.

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NSW

Some of Sydney’s most sought after suburbs are bearing up well and still rising in value, despite Sydney house prices falling further than any other capital across the nation.

Suburbs like Vaucluse and Rose Bay in the eastern suburbs, and Lindfield and Putney on the upper north shore, still show impressive annual gains, while prices in regional favourites like Bowral and Burradoo in the Southern Highlands, and Kingscliff in northern NSW, have risen by up to 26 per cent.

Vaucluse’s reputation for affluence is only preceded by its reputation for an incredible lifestyle, says TRG’s Oliver Lavers, who cites local schools as a massive drawcard for buyers – regardless of the market conditions.

“It’s all about the lifestyle that the property in Vaucluse offers. That location. It’s a beautiful place to live [and] we’re close to premium schools; people can walk their kids to schools,” he says.

Lavers says there is a distinct lack of supply at the moment, which is helping to keep prices buoyant.

SOLD - $10,200,000

71 Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030

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“There are no distressed sales here. If people can hold on, they will sit tight and not move in an area like this. They’d only be moving because of upsizing or downsizing, not worrying about whether it’s a good buy. They see a property they like and that’s the reason they make a move,” he says.

“So, all the buyers have funnelled through to the available properties and there’s a bit of competition between them … all our properties on the weekend had massive numbers coming through, which is really positive,” he says.

QUEENSLAND

Across Brisbane’s premium suburbs, as well as the Gold and Sunshine coasts, there are a swathe of postcodes still clocking up massive annual gains.

Bulimba, in Brisbane’s inner east, is up 36.2 per cent, while old-money suburbs like Hamilton and Ascot are up by huge amounts, as is neighbouring Clayfield.

Place Ascot agent Drew Davies says he’s had “more buyers than ever” enter the market in January.

SOLD - $3,510,000

28 Bennison Street, Ascot QLD 4007

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“Last year I think there was a bit of a flat spot but the general sentiment of the market has changed. People have gotten comfortable with the interest rate rises and know there’ll only be one or two more,” he says.

“I’d also say that the conversations we’re having with buyers in the premium markets are very different to those buyers in outer suburban markets – they’re just less sensitive to interest rate rises in general. I’m probably going to have the biggest month of my career this month.”

The premium riverfront enclave of Chelmer rose by a massive 27.4 per cent over 2022. More broadly, the SA3 region of Sherwood-Indooroopilly continued to rise over the final quarter of the year, despite Brisbane’s falling median price. Alex Jordan of McGrath Paddington says it’s likely the prestige market is propping up those positive numbers.

“At the end of last year there were a number of big properties trading and the market at the top end seems to be fairly stable,” he says.

“So, it’s actually because prestige property is so strong that the median value for these suburbs paints as pretty a picture as it does.”

SOLD - $2,750,000

30 Barchester Street, Sherwood QLD 4075

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Jordan says the inner-west suburbs of Brisbane have always been highly sought after for their school catchments.

“You look at them on the Naplan scores: six out of the top 10 schools are in that region. Primary, secondary, even tertiary with the University of Queensland at St Lucia. That always helps support values, no matter market conditions, because the demand for that is always strong.”

A number of the Gold Coast’s best suburbs recorded massive growth in 2022, including Clear Island Waters, Bundall, Paradise Point and Broadbeach Waters.

Victoria

Melbourne’s median house price actually stabilised by the end of last year, but annually, as a capital city, it’s down by 5.6 per cent. Despite those losses, there are a clutch of prized postcodes that are still performing exceptionally well, such as the coastal township of Barwon Heads on the Bellarine Peninsula, which rose by a massive 15.2 per cent over 2022.

Melbourne suburbs like Elwood, Camberwell and Park Orchards all saw strong rises of up to 11.7 per cent.

Chisholm and Gamon agent Sam Gamon says for a suburb like Elwood, where there’s very rarely much for sale at any one time, the sheer demand from buyers always means values hold strong.

“Buyers need to realise they’re not going to get a bargain here … they can’t sit on their hands,” he says.

“In Clarke Street we had three houses sell before Christmas and they all got premium prices. Interestingly, all three of the vendors were selling to upsize and they were struggling to find what they wanted, due to lack of stock.

“That lack of supply is putting a floor under prices. You only have to look at how much is online and going to auction – there are so few properties for sale. The key thing to understand here is that this low supply is not just the current market; it’s always like that in Elwood because it’s so tightly held. People hold on to their properties for years.”

SOLD - $6,200,000

52 Foam Street, Elwood VIC 3184

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He’s selling a spectacular five-bedroom home at Foam Street in Elwood, which he says is likely fetch a premium price.

“Properties like this are retaining their value because people can move straight in. At the moment there’s hesitation around anything that needs work or anything to do with construction,” he says.

“Mainly though, the fact there’s never much for sale is what keeps prices strong. In December, I sold six houses  and five of them were purchased by people already living in Elwood. The other was purchased by someone from close by. That says everything about how sought after this suburb is.”

South Australia

Adelaide’s housing market was the biggest success story of 2022. Seemingly unstoppable last year, its median house price kept rising at the same time other capitals were recording falls. Annually, it’s median is still up 10.2 per cent, the highest growth of any capital city, although the pace of the rises did flatline by the end of the year.

Not so for its premium suburbs though. Prestige agent Grant Giordano of Giordano and Partners says the top end of Adelaide is still firing.

“Adelaide, in the premium end of the market, continues to set new records, weekly, monthly. There has been no established drop in prices in blue chip suburbs,” he says.

“For example, five years ago, the highest sale ever was $7 million. Today, the highest sale we’re aware of is $11 million, and that number is being threatened monthly in multiple suburbs.”

Beaumont and Somerton Park both recorded strong gains over 2022, and Giordano says prices in some of Adelaide’s most prestigious suburbs, like Medindie and College Park, absolutely soared, although their median price was not captured due to too few sales.

“Those suburbs are incredibly tightly held. Not much changes hands there, which is why that figure hasn’t come up,” Giordano says. “But there have been record prices [set] there multiple times for multimillion-dollar sales.”

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21 Katoomba Road, Beaumont SA 5066

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He says Beaumont, while not traditionally one of Adelaide’s old-money suburbs, has become pretigious more recently thanks to gentrification as well as its inner city location.

“It’s 10 minutes from the CBD, close to very good schools and lots of bigger blocks,” he says.

“There’s not a lot of heritage properties there but the self expression with building has allowed people to build much grander homes in the area.”

WA

Perth’s housing market fared relatively well over 2022, rising by 1.1 per cent over the final quarter and 5.7 per cent for the year. It’s prestige market was no exception, with suburbs like Cottesloe rising by a massive 15.5 per cent and Swanbourne by 13.7 per cent.

Even Perth’s most expensive suburb, Dalkeith, closed out 2022 still in the black, with a strong 8.8 per cent rise in the median house price.