CoreLogic: 1257 Aussie suburbs in $1m club

Australia’s relentless house price growth has pushed another 200 suburbs into the exclusive “million-dollar club” or areas with median house values above $1m.

There are now 1257 million-dollar markets across the country, according to CoreLogic, an 18.5 per cent jump on the 1057 suburbs with million-dollar price tags in 2023.

Of the 4772 suburbs analysed by CoreLogic, 29.3 per cent of them boast values above $1m, outstripping a previous market peak of 26.9 per cent recorded in April 2022.

“At the onset of Covid, just 14.3 per cent of house and unit markets had a median value at or above the $1m mark,” CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said this week.

“With almost 30 per cent of suburbs now posting a seven-figure median, the increase is a natural consequence of rising values and worsening affordability.”

The greater Sydney and Brisbane markets recorded the highest number of new entrants into the million-dollar club for both houses and units, with 46 new suburbs for each area.

The Brisbane boom was propelled by a positive flow of interstate migration and continued undersupply of advertised listings, Ms Ezzy said, with values soaring 65.1 per cent since Covid.

“Such a significant increase in home values has eroded much of the city’s previous affordability advantage, with Brisbane now having the second highest median dwelling value at $875,040 among the capitals,” she said.

The median value of a house in Banyo, which sits adjacent to the Brisbane airport, now sits at $1,046,087, rising 16.8 per cent from $895,842 in 2023.

Bellbowrie, in the city’s outer southwest, is priced at $1,028,459, a 10.9 per cent jump from $927,709 in 2023.

Greater Adelaide has also booked rollicking growth over the year.

The breezy beachside suburb of Semaphore Park has soared 15.3 per cent, rising from $871,144 in 2023 to $1,004,700 in 2024. 

And Semaphore, which holds the popular Semaphore Jetty, has gained 8.4 per cent to move from $938,545 to $1,017,410.

Real estate agent Kate Smith, the principal at Kate Smith Property, has been selling houses in the two suburbs for 25 years and said she was not surprised the suburbs were growing in popularity.

“They have always been popular but among locals,” she told NewsWire on Friday.

“After Covid, there became a real new spotlight on the area.

“Anyone outside of the western suburbs hadn’t discovered this part of Adelaide before and then all these people from interstate were snapping up property because they couldn’t believe you could get that quality of house and that kind of location for the dollars.

“And it took that for us to appreciate what we have.”

She said she expected price growth to continue on the back of constrained supply and consistent demand.

“I’m finding year-on-year now pretty consistently the level of stock is becoming less and less,” she said.

“It is one of the tightest-held suburbs. I think the average turnover is every 12.5 years.”

More suburbs are predicted to join the million-dollar club soon.

As of August, there are 20 suburbs with a median house value above $990,000 and also recording positive quarterly value growth, CoreLogic’s data shows.

“It’s likely we’ll see a number of these markets cross the million-dollar threshold within the next few months,” Ms Ezzy said.