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As property prices keep climbing, a record one in three Australian suburbs now have a median value above $1 million, with million-dollar suburbs up 143 per cent over the past five years.
One in three property markets nationwide now has a million-dollar price tag, up by 30.3 per cent compared to this time last year, with suburbs in Brisbane leading the country in the largest net increase in million-dollar markets.
Cotality’s latest Million Dollar Markets Report found that the once-exclusive million-dollar club has expanded, with 30.8 per cent of sales in the year to September, more than double the 15.2 per cent recorded in 2020.
Cotality Economist Kaytlin Ezzy said the million-dollar benchmark has become less significant over the years as property prices have risen by 46.8 per cent or about $270,000 since 2020.
She said that while the million-dollar club was once mostly limited to Sydney’s elite areas, the number of seven-figure dwelling value suburbs has surged by 143 per cent over the past five years.
“Five years ago, just 14.0% of Australian suburbs were members of the million-dollar club, with the majority concentrated in Sydney’s prestigious Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, and North Sydney and Hornsby regions."
“Today, 41.9% of houses and 13.5% of unit suburbs nationally claim a spot on the once prestigious million-dollar list, with seven-figure price tags becoming more commonplace.”
Across the country, Brisbane led both the capitals and regional areas in million-dollar market growth, adding 37 new markets and one returning suburb over the year.
Brisbane now has a total of 205 million-dollar markets, while regional Queensland recorded 141, mainly concentrated on the Gold Coast (69) and Sunshine Coast (61).
Broader value growth also pushed a few suburbs outside these areas above the seven-figure mark, including four in Toowoomba, three in Wide Bay, and one each in Townsville and the Whitsundays.
Sydney followed closely, with seven in ten markets now exceeding a $1 million median value and a net increase of 36 markets with a median dwelling value of $1,241,054.
Regional NSW led in million-dollar club re-entrants suburbs, with 18 markets regaining seven-figure median values.
Ezzy said that the million-dollar market has been changing, with many new entrants located in suburban fringe areas that haven’t historically been associated with prestigious property.
“Some newly minted million-dollar markets include more mortgage belt suburbs like Sydney’s Penrith and Melbourne’s Taylors Lakes, along with Oxley in Brisbane’s Ipswich region and Upper Coomera in the Northern Gold Coast."
“Seven-figure markets are no longer confined to prestigious suburbs, with their reach expanding more broadly.”
On the West Coast, Perth’s million-dollar markets grew to 129, with 19 suburbs hitting seven-figure values for the first time and one unit in Swanbourne rejoining the club.
Regional WA also doubled its million-dollar markets from six to 12, led by nine in Bunbury, two in the North Wheatbelt, and one in Albany.
In SA, 116 of Adelaide’s 276 house suburbs, or 42.0 per cent, reached a median value of $1 million or more, up from 100 suburbs the previous year, while none of the city’s 82 unit markets hit seven figures.
Despite a 10.4 per cent annual rise in values, none of the 78 regional SA suburbs analysed surpassed the million-dollar mark.
In Victoria, Melbourne added seven new million-dollar markets despite continued soft growth, taking its total to 207.
Conversely, regional Victoria stood out as the only region to record a net decline in million-dollar markets, with just 11 of 278 suburbs reaching $1 million or more, down one from last year.
Ezzy said that as more suburbs reach the million-dollar mark, affordability pressures will intensify, making homeownership increasingly out of reach for first-time buyers.
With rising prices, tight supply, and expanded demand from schemes like the First Home Guarantee, she said that property values are expected to keep climbing, pushing more suburbs past the seven-figure threshold.
“At their current quarterly rate of growth, over 80 markets are on track to join the million-dollar club by year’s end,” she concluded.
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