A record number of Australian suburbs now have a median house or unit value above $1 million, according to a new report.
New data from CoreLogic shows 29.3 per cent — or 1,057 — of the nearly 4,800 suburbs surveyed across the country now have a million-dollar median.
That’s more than doubled since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, when just 14.3 per cent of dwellings met that mark.
The report looked at the number of markets across Australia with a median house or unit value of at least $1 million.
To no one’s surprise, Sydney still dominates as Australia’s most expensive capital, making up nearly half of the entire country’s million-dollar suburbs.
Prices in Brisbane also skyrocketed, with 46 suburbs joining or re-joining the seven-figure club.
Melbourne was the only capital city which saw house price in some suburbs drop below the mark.
Assuming each household has a 20 per cent deposit for a mortgage on their home, CoreLogic stated an annual income of close to $200,000 would be needed to keep repayments under 30 per cent of their total expenses.
“This marks an increase from the around $125,000 needed prior to the first interest rate hike,” the report said.
Here’s how the states and territories fared:
New South Wales
The median dwelling value in the state’s capital now sits at $1,180,463, with values rising by five per cent over the past 12 months to August.
Sydney now has 448 house and 107 unit markets above the million-dollar median mark.
Twenty-three markets re-entered the seven-figure club, and 25 suburbs (mostly in the city’s South West and Outer South West regions) joined for the first time.
Two suburbs, North Willoughby and Warrawee, saw median unit prices fall below the $1 million mark over the year.
Taking a look at regional NSW, unsurprisingly, the majority of million-dollar suburbs could be found in the regions surrounding Sydney, like the Illawarra, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Currently, 115 markets – 111 suburbs for houses and four for units – have a median value above $1 million.
Victoria
In Melbourne, median prices for houses in 191 suburbs and units in 11 areas met the million-dollar threshold.
Overall, dwelling values fell by -1 per cent in Melbourne and regional Victoria since August 2023.
“An unfavourable investment taxation environment, a higher level of new housing completions, and an above average level of advertised supply have put downwards pressure on values, resulting in fewer new million-dollar entrants in Melbourne and a net decline across Regional Victoria,” the report stated.
House markets in two suburbs, Scoresby and Dromana, and units in Bentleigh East dropped out of the club.
But houses in six suburbs (Coburg North, Keilor East, Riddles Creek, Clarinda, Gembrook and McCrae) and units in one suburb (Canterbury) re-entered the median million-dollar market.
Regional Victoria was the only broad region to see a net decline in the total number of million-dollar suburbs over the year.
“Two markets (Wandana Heights and Apollo Bay) saw median house values fall below the $1 million mark, leaving just ten suburbs in the million-dollar club,” the report said.
“Nine of the remaining suburbs were located in Geelong, with the coastal suburb of Lorne ($1,978,179) recording the highest median house value.”
Queensland
When it comes to the market with the largest growth in million-dollar suburbs, Brisbane tied with Sydney.
The report shows it is now the second most expensive capital city.
House markets in 46 suburbs (32 new, and 14 which have re-joined) now meet the seven-figure threshold.
This means houses in nearly half (46 per cent) of all suburbs in Brisbane now have a median over $1 million.
“This took the total count to 149 or 46 per cent of the 324 suburbs analysed for median house values, well above the previous peak of 114 or 35.2 per cent recorded back in June 2022,” the report stated.
However, no suburbs recorded median unit prices above the mark, despite values growing by 19.4 per cent in the 12 months to August.
“Units in New Farm were the closest, with a current median value of $999,075, followed by Teneriffe ($981,308).”
Regional Queensland saw the largest growth in million-dollar markets out of all of its regional counterparts.
30 suburbs (25 houses and 5 units) joined the club.
Just two suburbs outside of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts made the list: Goldsborough and Palm Cove in the tropical Cairns region.
South Australia
House markets in 104 (36.6 per cent) of the 284 suburbs surveyed in Adelaide met the $1 million mark.
This is up from 75 suburbs in August 2023.
“Adelaide’s South region (12) saw the largest increase in millionaire house markets, followed by the city’s West (10) and Central and Hills regions (7),” CoreLogic said.
Like Brisbane, none of the city’s unit markets made it into the club.
No markets in regional South Australia recorded a million-dollar median, despite values rising by nearly 10 per cent over the 12 months to August.
Western Australia
When it comes to value growth, Perth dominated over the rest of the country.
Property prices have risen by 24.2 per cent — resulting in a boom in the number of million-dollar markets.
“31 house and four unit markets entered the club for the first time and one house suburb (Highgate) re-entered the club, taking the total count to 100,” CoreLogic said.
“Perth’s Inner, North-West and South-West regions each had 26 markets with a seven-figure median value in August, while the South-East and North-East regions had 19 and three, respectively. Mandurah is now the only SA4 region in Perth that does not have a million-dollar market.”
Just one house market in regional Western Australia joined the millionaire club for the first time: Dunsborough now sits alongside Quindalup and Yallingup with a million-dollar median.
Tasmania
Hobart recorded the biggest decline in dwelling values among the capital cities over 12 months, down -1.2 per cent.
Despite this, the number of suburbs which met the million-dollar median, Sandy Bay, Acton Park and Tranmere, stayed the same.
“With Hobart values down -12.2 per cent from the March 2022 peak, the current count of million-dollar markets (3) is less than half the peak number (7), also recorded in March 2022,” CoreLogic said.
In regional Tasmania, none of the markets surveyed recorded a median value above the seven-figure mark.
Northern Territory
In Darwin and across the Northern Territory, none of the suburbs surveyed saw median prices surpass $1 million.
“Houses in Fannie Bay in the Darwin City region recorded the highest median value at $939,517, followed by the coastal suburb of Nightcliff ($838,272) in the city’s north,” the report stated.
Canberra
Dwelling values rose by 1.5 per cent over the 12 months to August, pushing six suburbs back into the million-dollar club.
45 house markets and just one unit market, or 36.2 per cent of 127 suburbs surveyed, met the seven-figure mark.
“Cook, McKellar, Macarthur, Chifley, and the suburb of Gungahlin each saw their median house value rise above the $1 million mark over the year,” CoreLogic said.
“However, values in these suburbs remain between -4.2 per cent and -15 per cent below their previous peaks.”