Australia’s biggest money-making suburbs have delivered extraordinary price gains in the past five years, with new Domain data revealing top performers led by the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
The standout was the Broadbeach-Burleigh region in Queensland, where the median house price has skyrocketed by $867,500, reaching $1.8 million.
Local agent Michael Peters of Black and White Estate Agent attributed the surge to pandemic-driven migration and tight supply.
“It is unprecedented,” Peters said. “I haven’t seen growth in the property market ever in my time in real estate like what we’ve seen in the last four to five years.”
While Domain’s five-year price analysis shows where sellers gained most, recent PropTrack data points to broader national growth driven by rate cuts and revived buyer confidence.
In Brisbane’s Inner-East, including Balmoral, Bulimba, and Hawthorne, property values have jumped $790,000 in five years, pushing the median house price to $1.72 million.
“The value in Brisbane now is where it should have been five years ago,” said Tony O’Doherty of McGrath Bulimba. “It was undervalued in comparison to Melbourne and Sydney, where wages are comparable. But property prices were substantially lower.”
O’Doherty said COVID-era migration played a part, but most growth was driven by locals. “It was predominantly local people competing with local people.”
He now sees a more sustainable pace: “It’s steady, stable and healthy now.”
Adelaide’s Burnside region, which includes Burnside, Wattle Park and Beaumont, posted a five-year gain of $700,000, with the median house price now $1.66 million.
Local agent Isabela Klemich of Alexander Real Estate said demand surged during the pandemic.
“People got quite desperate, and it just drove up the prices,” Klemich said.
She added that rising construction costs have slowed new builds, cooling the development market.
“The market is definitely getting softer,” Klemich said. “We don’t think prices will drop, but [the market] doesn’t have that fierce competition anymore.”
While gains weren’t as extreme, Sydney and Perth still posted strong results.
The Rouse Hill-McGraths Hill region in Sydney, which includes Pitt Town, North Kellyville and Rouse Hill, increased by $560,000 over five years, pushing the median to $1.51 million, while Melville in Perth, encompassing Bateman, Booragoon and Melville, added $521,500, with a new median of $1.25 million.
The Domain report, based on ABS SA3 regions, highlights a strong concentration of house price growth in lifestyle and education-driven suburbs, particularly in Queensland and South Australia.
The combination of migration trends, restricted land supply, and shifting buyer preferences has created multi-million-dollar opportunities – and rising affordability challenges – in pockets across the country.
