Australia's most popular suburbs in every state in 2022

It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for Australia’s property market, but amid the highs and lows, our obsession with property – and certain locations, in particular – endures.

New data from the 2022 Domain End of Year Wrap, released on Thursday, has revealed the hotspots potential buyers have eyeballed most this year and although a swathe of Sydney suburbs ranked highly, it was Gisborne, in Victoria, that took out the top spot.

Once a sleepy country town on the rural outskirts of Melbourne, Gisborne shot to fame across Australia this year when it became home to this year’s tree-change season of The Block, and the number of property views in the area skyrocketed.

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Here are the top 10 most viewed suburbs in every state in Australia, for 2022.

Birchgrove, located in Sydney’s inner west on the Balmain peninsula, topped the list for NSW. It was followed by Castlecrag on the lower north shore, Annandale – which was the most searched suburb in NSW last year – and Lilyfield, also in the inner west, and Point Piper, home to some of Australia’s most expensive real estate.

Monique Dower of Belle Property Balmain says while the property market has slowed since last year, Birchgrove’s appeal as an aspirational postcode is universal and enduring.

“It’s always going to be sought after; it’s peaceful and quiet, there are parks on your doorstep. It’s beautiful,” she says.

“Out of what’s on the peninsula – Birchgrove, Rozelle, Balmain – Birchgrove is the most desirable because it’s quiet, private, it’s got rich homes and it’s still close to Balmain Village.”

While Birchgrove may have been high on people’s search lists anyway, it may have had a little assistance this year thanks to home-grown movie star Rebel Wilson.

“Rebel Wilson sold her property here this year – that may have had an effect on people searching for the suburb of Birchgrove, checking it out, searching the suburb,” Dower says.

As contestants on The Block slogged it out to build what would become the show’s largest-ever properties, viewers were given an up-close look at Gisborne’s rolling green hills and tree-lined streets backdropped by the spectacular Macedon Ranges.

It put Gisborne on the map across the nation, quite literally, says TCC Real Estate agent Kirrily Evans, and searches for the tree-change town on Domain went through the roof.

“The show put Gisborne on the map … and brought eyes to the area, with people around Australia saying, ‘Where is Gisborne? Where is the Macedon Ranges?’ and then searching the areas,” she says.

“We had a lot of day-trippers come out from Melbourne; they’d drive down McGeorge Road just to have a look at the houses, and it brought tourists to the area – that was great.”

SOLD - $3,900,000

225 McGeorge Road, Gisborne VIC 3437

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However, the massive spike in views has not always converted into sales, which Evans puts down to the market conditions. She is still trying to sell house four from the series, built by Queenslanders Dylan and Jenny.

“I think if it was a different time, like this time last year, we would’ve seen more of those views turn into actual sales,” she says. “But with interest rates rising, there’s buyer uncertainty at the moment and the buyer pool is a lot smaller than it was.”

Also heavily sought after this year were premium suburbs like Toorak, Albert Park and Portsea.

Queensland’s list of most-viewed suburbs for 2022 tells a tale of sea-change and tree-change dreaming, with every postcode in the top 10, bar one, located in either the Gold or Sunshine Coast hinterland, or by the beach.

Herston is the most viewed suburb in Brisbane. The inner-city hotspot, prized for its proximity to the CBD, hospitals and historic Queenslander homes, is now also home to the newly redeveloped Victoria Park/Barrambin public parklands.

But the top spot was taken out by Tallebudgera, a suburb at the southern end of the Gold Coast that neighbours Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach and Reedy Creek.

Tallebudgera stretches up into the hinterland and consists of many acreage and semi-rural properties, some of which boast spectacular views of the ocean.

While it’s not hard to find a beautiful home in Tallebudgera, it’s safe to say there was one, in particular, that may have stood out this year.

$33,000,000

49-109 Tallebudgera Connection Road, Tallebudgera QLD 4228

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A 14-bedroom, 12-bathroom house set on close to 18 hectares, Bellagio La Villa set a new standard of hinterland luxury with its palace-like proportions, indoor heated swimming pool and horse stables.

Deakin had more views per listing than any other ACT suburb this year. Located on the southern side of Lake Burley Griffin, it is home to the official residence of the Prime Minister – The Lodge – and the Royal Australian Mint.

Given Australia had a federal election this year that saw Scott Morrison move out of Deakin and Anthony Albanese move in, the suburb may have piqued the interest of house hunters more than usual.

More likely, though, is Deakin’s well-established reputation as one of Canberra’s most sought-after – and expensive – suburbs. Deakin’s median house price is $2,037,500 and its median unit price is $612,500.

Other suburbs that rated highly on people’s wish lists were Yarralumla, O’Connor and Griffith.

SOLD - $1,485,000

35 Stonehaven Crescent, Deakin ACT 2600

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Picturesque Adelaide Hills favourites such as Stirling, Belair and Bridgewater dominated searches in South Australia this year, while beachside favourite Glenelg South featured heavily on buyers’ wish lists, too.

Inner-city premium postcodes like Norwood and Hyde Park were also heavily in demand amid Adelaide’s booming property market, which saw house prices rise by a staggering 46.9 per cent from trough to peak.

SOLD - $1,225,000

5 Gould Road, Stirling SA 5152

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Western Australia’s most in-demand suburbs for 2022 are a mixed bag of Perth suburbs such as Trigg and South Fremantle, and the premium suburbs of outer Bunbury, south of Perth, like Leschenault.

The top spot goes to Gidgegannup, a township about 40 kilometres north-west of Perth that features acreage and semi-rural properties, as well as new house-and-land packages.

SOLD - $865,000

41 Hargraves Crescent, Gidgegannup WA 6083

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Most of the top suburbs for searches in Tasmania this year were centred around the capital city of Hobart, where house prices have gone through a massive boom, rising 52.2 per cent since the pandemic upswing began.

Battery Point, on the southern fringe of the CBD, came in at number one, while other suburbs of Hobart such as West Hobart, North Hobart, South Hobart and Sandy Bay all featured.

But Hobart was not the only region of Tasmania where people were searching. Launceston, as well as neighbouring suburbs such as Trevallyn and Norwood, also notched up the views.

SOLD - $2,450,000

32 Clarke Avenue, Battery Point TAS 7004

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All of the top 10 most viewed suburbs in the Northern Territory were in and around Darwin. Ludmilla, which took out the top spot, is an inner-northern suburb just west of Fannie Bay (which also rated highly on searches).

SOLD - $825,000

7 Maranungu Street, Ludmilla NT 0820

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