Property prices are gaining momentum across Australia, but a new Domain report shows 14 capital city suburbs where houses are under $1 million – and getting cheaper.
Australia’s housing upswing has broadened, with every capital posting quarterly house and unit price growth for the first time in years, as rate cuts lift buyer demand. These 14 suburbs are rare exceptions in an otherwise rising market.
Domain chief of research and economics Nicola Powell (pictured) said the data highlights how property markets can behave very differently depending on the suburb.
“Not all suburbs move at the same pace,” Powell said. “Premium suburbs lead price growth, and you start to see prices rise. And then what happens is the ripple effect occurs. It sprawls out into the middle and outer locations.
“More affordable areas tend to hold firmer during weak points in the market, but they don’t tend to see as strong gains as in some of those more premium locations.”
In Chambers Flat, a semi-rural suburb 27 kilometres south of Brisbane’s CBD, the median house price is $615,000 after falling 29.4% in the past year.
Local agent Lauren Molijn of Real Estate Domain Team said supply has surged due to land subdivision.
“The bigger acreages have sold, and they’re being subdivided into small residential homes,” Molijn said. “It’s simply that there’s a lot more [houses available].
“A block of five acres that sold for $2.5 million four to five years ago, now has 100 little houses on 400 square metres [of land].”
The shift has opened the door for first-home buyers and investors.
“Everything coming on the market is selling really fast,” Molijn said.
In Melbourne, Maribyrnong, just five kilometres from the CBD, has a median house price of $910,000, down 9.5% over the past 12 months.
Local agent Quoc Ho of Metro Real Estate said the suburb’s small volume of annual sales can make the median volatile.
“One year, you might have better quality [houses] for sale or sold, and the next year, you might have lower quality [houses] sold,” Ho said.
Some areas of Maribyrnong can flood, which has made some prospective buyers hesitant – but he said people are “quick to forget it”.
While the suburb’s median house price has slipped, Ho calls it a price correction following a string of high-value sales rather than the start of an extended downturn.
Powell added that Melbourne’s broader property market now presents value opportunities for buyers.
“Melbourne is undervalued compared to other capital cities,” she said. “It’s seen the weakest growth over a five-year period, and what that presents is an opportunity of value for buyers.”
In Gungahlin, Canberra, the median house price fell 7.3% to $920,000 in the past year.
Local agent Theo Koutsikamanis of Bastion Property Group says new development has driven prices down.
“They’re just building so many free-standing dwellings and townhouses out there, and there’s more than enough for the demand,” Koutsikamanis said.
“If they bought in 2021 or 2022, I know straight away I’m going to have a conversation with the [seller] and tell them that we’re probably not going to break even, but that’s just how it is.
“A year ago, people were still paying premiums.”
He said newer spec houses have lowered the suburb’s median, but larger, established homes remain highly desirable.
“Larger homes with pools and big garages and big internal living are always going to be highly sought-after, and they’re always going to be received well,” Koutsikamanis said.
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