Unit prices are climbing faster than house prices in several Australian regions, as affordability constraints push more buyers toward the cheaper end of the market, according to new analysis from REA Group.
PropTrack's June Home Price Index shows units recorded annual price growth of 6.7%, outpacing the 5.6% annual growth seen in houses. Units also held steady over the month while house prices slipped 0.4%. Since January 2025, cumulative unit price growth has run ahead of houses, at "9.9% vs 9.6%", according to REA Group senior economic analyst Megan Lieu (pictured).
Buyer search activity backs up the trend. Lieu said unit searches on realestate.com.au made up under 30% of total buy searches in late 2020 but have "consistently hovered around 37-39% between 2021-24" and lifted further from late 2025.
New listings rose 6.3% for houses and 6.9% for units in the six months to June 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, suggesting supply has grown at a similar pace across both segments — pointing to the price shift being demand-driven rather than supply-led.
That said, supply is starting to tilt toward units too, with private sector approvals for apartments and units jumping 17.8% in June, far outpacing the 0.4% rise in house approvals, even as total dwelling approvals rose 7.2% to end three months of decline.
Even so, affordability remains the dominant force behind the shift. The national median house price now sits at $1,001,000, against $735,000 for units, a gap of $266,000. Lieu said this affordability difference is one of the main factors pushing buyers toward units, noting the median household could afford loan repayments on just 15% of properties in 2025, per PropTrack's Housing Affordability report.
The trend is most pronounced in pockets of the market. In North Sydney - Mosman, units outperformed houses by 13.5 percentage points over the past year, while Brisbane Inner recorded the widest gap nationally at 24.5 percentage points. Similar patterns emerged in Victoria's Murray River - Swan Hill and Boroondara regions, and in South Australia's Port Adelaide - West.
Lieu said inflation remaining above the RBA's 2-3% target is raising the chance of a rate hike in coming months. The RBA held the cash rate at 4.35% in June, following three increases earlier in the year, with its next decision due on 11 August 2026. Should a hike eventuate, reduced borrowing capacity would add further strain to affordability. That, in turn, could push an even larger share of buyers toward units, widening the price gap further in regions where houses are already becoming out of reach.
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