Australia’s property upswing intensified in 2025, with PropTrack analysis cited by news.com.au showing double‑digit price growth across 3,224 suburbs, and almost every state posting standout performers.
The surge has come in a year marked by three early‑2025 cash rate cuts, followed by a pause at 3.6%, tighter housing supply, and strong migration flows into more affordable states such as Queensland and Western Australia.
In total, 4,793 locations recorded some price growth, with 99 markets surging by 30% or more and several topping 40%, adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to home values, the PropTrack data showed.
Western Australia’s Rangeway led the nation, with house prices jumping from $281,455 to $402,000 – an extraordinary 43% increase. In the NT, Gray in Darwin recorded a 40% rise, with the median house price climbing from $402,816 to $564,000.
The unit market in Harristown, QLD, along with housing markets in Moulden, NT, and Spalding, WA, jointly took third place, each posting price growth of 39%.
Across the states, Wheelers Hill in Melbourne’s southeast was Victoria’s top performer, with unit prices rising 36% and now nearing the $1 million mark. In the ACT, Whitlam house prices rose 35%, while in NSW, Miller led unit price growth with a 34% jump from $563,218 to $755,000.
Regional markets also featured strongly, with Port Augusta (SA) notching a 26% house price rise to around $300,000, and Acton (Tas) seeing values climb 24% in 12 months, from $400,331 to $444,000.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty (pictured) said the boom has been concentrated in lower‑priced suburbs.
“Affordability is driving more people to cheaper suburbs,” Flaherty said.
She said stronger investor activity – particularly in cheaper unit markets – has intensified competition in many of the same areas targeted by first‑home buyers using the expanded First Home Guarantee Scheme, which allows eligible buyers to get in with a 5% deposit and no LMI.
“Investors have been coming back into the market looking for long-term growth. It’s quite clear that we have a housing shortage that will take a while to correct,” Flaherty said.
“Investors are seeing that population growth is strong and we are not building enough, plus there have been interest rate cuts, so there has been an expectation of long-term (value) growth.”
She said Darwin is a “classic example” of investor influence.
“New loans to investors have doubled year on year,” Flaherty said. “Often the investors targeting Darwin want high yields, but it is speculative to some degree as all investment activity is. People are making decisions based on what will happen long-term.”
Flaherty warned that many of 2025’s hottest markets are unlikely to sustain the same pace in 2026 as prices stretch affordability and demand starts to rotate.
“It’s complex,” she said.
“Price growth can continue in very competitive markets because buyers who have been outbid or see very stiff competition are more likely to stretch budgets and offer more than they would have originally planned. But you can get markets reaching a huge level where they are no longer as affordable any more.
“We have seen cases of prices increasing ($200,000) in a year and as these areas become less affordable, there are less buyers.”
The PropTrack economist said the First Home Guarantee Scheme is likely to remain a key driver of activity in 2026, with markets that sit under the scheme’s price caps in each state best placed to see continued demand.
Get the hottest and freshest mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter.
