Australia’s million-dollar markets at all-time high
Key takeaways
In August, 29.3% of Australian suburbs had a median house or unit value at or above $1 million, up from 21.7% in January 2023.
At the onset of COVID, 14.3% of house and unit markets had a median value at or above the $1 million mark. Now, almost 30% of suburbs have a seven-figure median value.
While growth over the past year has favoured the mid-sized capitals, Sydney continued to dominate the million-dollar market list and recorded the highest net rise in million-dollar markets over the year (+46). Brisbane also had a net increase of 46 million-dollar markets, with dwelling values rising 15.0% over the year.
The number of Australian suburbs with a median house or unit value in the million-dollar club reached a new record high in August, according to the latest CoreLogic Million-Dollar Markets report.
The report shows that 29.3% of the 4,772 suburbs analysed recorded a current median value at or above $1 million, up from a recent low of 21.7% in January 2023 when values found a floor following the start of the rate-tightening cycle.
The portion of suburbs with a million plus median is now above the 26.9% seen at the previous market peak in April 2022.
At the onset of COVID, just 14.3% of house and unit markets had a median value at or above the $1 million mark.
With almost 30% of suburbs now posting a seven-figure median, the increase is a natural consequence of rising values and worsening affordability.
The number of million-dollar markets has increased by 18.5% – or 218 markets – over the past year.
This time last year, 1,057 suburbs recorded a median house value of at least one million dollars and 122 unit markets had a seven-figure median value.
Over the past year, those numbers have increased to 1,257 and 140, respectively.
While growth over the past year has favoured the mid-sized capitals, the country’s most expensive capital, Sydney ($1,180,463), continued to dominate the million-dollar market list, and recorded the highest net rise in million-dollar markets over the year (+46).
Brisbane also had a net increase of 46 million-dollar markets, with dwelling values rising 15.0% over the year.
The positive flow of interstate migration, coupled with a continued undersupply of advertised listings as well as newly built housing stock, has seen Brisbane values rise 65.1% since the onset of COVID.
Such a significant increase in home values has eroded much of the city’s previous affordability advantage, with Brisbane now having the second-highest median dwelling value ($875,040) among the capitals.
Perth came in third with 35 new entrants and one re-entrant to the million-dollar club over the year.
Despite recording the highest annual rise in dwelling values among the capitals and rest of state regions, Perth’s relatively low starting point resulted in fewer new seven-figure markets compared to Sydney and Brisbane.
At the other end of the scale are Melbourne and regional Victoria, where dwelling values fell by -1.0% over the year.
An unfavourable investment taxation environment, a higher level of new housing completions, and an above-average level of advertised supply have put downward pressure on values, resulting in fewer new million-dollar entrants in Melbourne and a net decline across Regional Victoria.
The million-dollar question
At the national level, the quarterly pace of growth has eased significantly in recent months, from a 2.0% increase over the three months to April to 1.3% over the three months to August.
While the pace of growth has started to ease, and growth conditions have become more diverse from region to region, it’s unlikely we’ve seen a peak in the number of million-dollar markets.
As of August, there are 24 suburbs (20 houses and 4 units) with a median value above $990,000 currently recording positive quarterly value growth.
It’s likely we’ll see a number of these markets cross the million-dollar threshold within the next few months.
Affordability concerns
Despite the increase in the number of million-dollar markets, borrowers are dedicating more of their income towards servicing their mortgages.
With an $800,000 loan balance (assuming a 20% deposit) and the current average variable mortgage rate for new owner-occupiers (6.28%), a household would need an annual income close to $200,000 to keep repayments on a $1 million home under 30% of their income.
This marks an increase from around the $125,000 needed prior to the first interest rate hike.
Across the States
New South Wales
- 448 houses and 107 unit markets in Sydney have a current median value of $1 million dollars or higher, making up 78.3% of house markets and 34.1% of unit suburbs Sydney’s million-dollar club saw a net change of 46 markets over the year, with 23 markets re-entering the seven-figure club (after falling out during the recent rate tightening cycle) and 25 suburbs joining the club for the first time. Only two suburbs in the North Sydney and Hornsby regions (North Willoughby and Warrawee) saw their median unit value fall below the $1 million mark over the year.
- In Regional NSW, Casuarina houses in the Richmond-Tweed region recorded the highest median value at $2,320,189, up approximately $217,000 from this time last Currently, 115 markets (111 houses and four units) across regional NSW have a median value at or above $1 million, up 22 from the number recorded this time last year (93). The majority of the regional million-dollar markets continue to be concentrated in regions adjacent to Sydney, the Illawarra (34), Newcastle and Lake Macquarie (25), Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven (16) regions, as well as the Richmond Tweed region (22).
Victoria
- Across Melbourne, 191 house and 11 unit markets had a median value at or above $1 million in August, the majority of which were located in Melbourne’s Inner South (40), Inner (38), and Inner East (31) regions. Melbourne’s million-dollar club saw a net increase of four markets, with seven (6 house and 1 unit) markets re-entering the club and three (2 house and 1 unit) markets falling out of the club.
- Despite recording the same annual decline in values as Melbourne, regional Victoria (-1.0%) was the only broad region among the capitals and rest of state regions to record a net decline in million-dollar markets over the 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.
Queensland
- Brisbane tied with Sydney for the largest net change in million-dollar markets, with 46 markets (32 new entrants and 14 re-entrants), all house markets, joining the seven-figure club over the course of the year. This took the total count to 149 or 46.0% of the 324 suburbs analysed for median house values, well above the previous peak of 114 or 35.2% recorded back in June 2022.
- Regional Queensland saw the largest net change in million-dollar suburbs across regional markets, with 30 (25 houses and 5 units) joining the seven-figure club. The Gold Coast (55) and Sunshine Coast (53) continue to dominate the regional Queensland million-dollar list, making up 50% and 2% of all markets, respectively. Just two suburbs outside these regions made the seven-figure list, Goldsborough ($1,067,791) and Palm Cove ($1,022,096), both in the tropical Cairns Region.
South Australia
- 104 or 36.6% of the 284 suburbs analysed for houses across Adelaide recorded a current median value at or above the $1 million mark in August, up from 75 or 38.7% this time last year. None of the city’s 76 unit markets recorded a seven-figure median.
- Despite values rising 9.6% over the year, none of the 79 suburbs (77 houses and two units) analysed in regional South Australia recorded a million-dollar median.
Western Australia
- Perth led the country in value growth, with dwelling values up 2% over the year to August. This has resulted in a 56.3% increase in the number of seven-figure suburbs compared to last year. 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.
- Despite recording the highest annual increase in values across the regional markets (up 3%), regional WA saw just one house market, Dunsborough ($1,223,279), join the million-dollar club, taking the total count to three. Quindalup ($1,377,367) and Yallingup ($1,654,267), both also in Bunbury, were the only other markets to record a house median above the $1 million mark.
Tasmania
- Despite Hobart recording the largest annual decline in dwelling value (-1.2%) among the capitals and rest of state regions, the city’s count of million-dollar suburbs remained steady. Just three suburbs (of 43 in total) recorded a median house value over the one million dollar mark and none of the city’s 13 suburbs with a median unit value recorded a seven-figure price tag.
- None of the 59 house and seven unit markets analysed across regional Tasmania recorded a median value above the $1 million mark.
Northern Territory
- None of the markets analysed across Darwin and regional NT recorded a median value above $1 million in August. 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.
Canberra
- One unit market (Yarralumla) and 45 house markets, or 36.2% of the 127 suburbs analysed, had a seven-figure median value in August. Dwelling values in Canberra rose 1.5% over the year, which saw six suburbs rejoin the million-dollar club for houses after they dropped out in 2022 and 2023. Cook, McKellar, Macarthur, Chifley, Gowrie and the suburb of Gungahlin each saw their median house value rise above the $1 million mark over the year.
