Australia's new million-dollar suburbs revealed

Australia has 46 new million-dollar suburbs despite the global health pandemic and economic recession, while 10 suburbs fell out of the exclusive club in FY20, latest data reveals.

Melbourne saw median house prices in 24 suburbs exceed the seven-figure threshold this year, while Sydney had 15 and Brisbane, seven.

However, median prices in three Melbourne suburbs dropped below the million-dollar mark in FY20, as well as four in Sydney, one in Brisbane and two in Adelaide.

Nerida Conisbee, realestate.com.au’s chief economist, said the premium property market has been “one of the most stable property markets during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The property market is currently being supported by high levels of stimulus, a stable banking system, mortgage payment freezes and relative confidence amongst buyers. As a result, pricing has remained stable, despite being in a recession,” she said.

“This is likely due to the strong momentum leading into the shutdowns, and because highly paid sectors haven’t seen widespread unemployment yet.

“Over the last 12 months, more suburbs have entered the million-dollar club than suburbs that have fallen out, but there are still some opportunities to get into a premium suburb for six figures.”

The realestate.com.au median house price data was captured between July 2019 and June 2020, and suburbs with less than 30 sales in this period were excluded.

Melbourne

In Melbourne, these 24 suburbs joined the million-dollar club in FY20, rising from six-figure median house prices in FY19:

Melbourne suburbs that have joined the million-dollar club

“Melbourne has seen the biggest rise in suburbs joining the million-dollar club in Australia. At this stage, it’s too early to tell what impact Melbourne’s second lockdown will have on the market,” Ms Conisbee said.

The city has 119 suburbs with a median of $1m or above, which is up from 98 a year ago, according to realestate.com.au data.

New entries spanned the trendy inner-north pockets of Brunswick East, Preston, Coburg and Collingwood, and inner-west counterparts like Kensington, Flemington and Seddon.

Leafy eastern suburbs featured heavily in the list, including Blackburn North and South, Burwood East and Mitcham, and bayside suburbs such as Cheltenham, Edithvale and Mt Martha.

Box Hill South saw the biggest change in median price for the 12-month period, and Mark Read from Jellis Craig Booroondara said it was likely attributed to a rise in new and renovated housing stock.

“I know that a lot of builders over the last five years have built new homes in the area – that before would have been built in Surrey Hills, Camberwell, Balwyn – but uptick in land value in those suburbs means buyers have moved out a little further. So there’s been great success with that,” he said.

“There’s also been new renovations to existing period homes, which are also selling well, and there’s a lot of good schools in the area.”

Updates to school zones has also brought parts of Box Hill South into the coveted Box Hill High School catchment area.

Sydney

Median house prices in these 15 Sydney suburbs surpassed the million-dollar mark in FY20:

Sydney suburbs that have joined the million-dollar club

Predominantly in Hornsby Shire, The Hills and Sutherland Shire, these areas join 209 million-dollar suburbs in Sydney.

Bexley in the city’s south had the strongest growth of the new entrants, with prices growing $266,000 to $1.251 million. The nearby bayside suburb of Arncliffe also passed $1 million.

Sam Abbas, from Stone Real Estate Rockdale, said Bexley’s price growth was largely driven by buyers from more expensive suburbs seeking more value for money, while remaining close to the city.

“Buyers are transitioning from the inner west, seeking good value,” Mr Abbas said.

“Bexley has nice tree-lined streets and bigger blocks in comparison to the inner west, and is about 20% less [expensive], so it’s more affordable. That’s where I see the price growth.

“About 70% of buyers coming through open homes are from the inner west.”

Three suburbs in the Hornsby Shire made the list – Asquith, Mount Colah and Berowra Heights – and The Hills had Glenwood, Winston Hills and The Ponds.

Northmead was the only Parramatta suburb to break $1 million, as well as Wamberal on the Central Coast.

The other new entrants were Jannali, Menai and Yarrawarrah in the Sutherland Shire, and Belmore and Picnic Point from the Canterbury-Bankstown area.

Four Sydney suburbs fell out of the million-dollar list:

1. Campsie: $1,190,000 to $985,000
2. Lidcombe: $1,020,000 to $980,000
3. North Avoca: $1,030,000 to $932,500
4. Sutherland: $1,027,500 to $975,000

“Highlighting the extreme pricing of Sydney, 15 suburbs joined the million-dollar club, now bringing the total to 209 million-dollar suburbs and making it difficult to find an inner or middle ring suburb for under a million dollars,” Ms Conisbee said.

Brisbane

Seven Brisbane suburbs joined the million-dollar club for the year to June 2020:

Brisbane suburbs that have joined the million-dollar club

Grange, Clayfield and Ashgrove in Brisbane’s north, Bardon and Fig Tree Pocket in the west, and West End, in the inner south, also joined the list.

In Adelaide, no new suburbs made the list this year, but two dropped out – the median house price in Unley dropped from $1,060,000 to $971,500 and in North Adelaide prices slid from $1,145,000 to $925,000.

“Despite being two of the most popular suburbs on realestate.com.au, Unley and North Adelaide have now dipped under a one-million-dollar median, offering buyers a good opportunity to get into some of the most desired suburbs for less,” Ms Conisbee said.