The average price of Australian residential property has risen over the past ten years, and in September 2024, it reached a new high of 985,900 Australian dollars. Nonetheless, property experts in Australia have indicated that the country has been in a property bubble over the past decade, with some believing the market will collapse sometime in the near future. Property prices started declining in 2022; however, a gradual upward trend was witnessed throughout 2023 and 2024. Australian capital city price differences While the national average residential property price has exhibited growth, individual capital cities display diverse trends, highlighting the complexity of Australia’s property market. Sydney maintains its position as the most expensive residential property market across Australia's capital cities, with a median property value of approximately 1.19 million Australian dollars as of December 2024. Brisbane has emerged as an increasingly pricey capital city for residential property, surpassing both Canberra and Melbourne in median housing values. Notably, Perth experienced the most significant annual increase in its average residential property value, with a 19.1 percent increase from December 2023, despite being a comparably more affordable market. Hobart and Darwin remain the most affordable capital cities for residential properties in the country. Is the homeownership dream out of reach? The rise in property values coincides with the expansion of Australia's housing stock. In the September quarter of 2024, the number of residential dwellings reached around 11.25 million, representing an increase of about 53,100 dwellings from the previous quarter. However, this growth in housing supply does not necessarily translate to increased affordability or accessibility for many Australians. The country’s house prices remain largely disproportional to income, leaving the majority of low and middle-income earners priced out of the market. Alongside this, hikes in mortgage interest rates have made taking out a loan increasingly unappealing for many potential property owners, and the share of mortgage holders at risk of mortgage repayment stress has continued to climb.

Graph and download economic data for Real Residential Property Prices for Australia (QAUR628BIS) from Q1 1970 to Q3 2024 about Australia, residential, HPI, housing, real, price index, indexes, and price.

Sydney had the highest median house value compared to other capital cities in Australia as of December 2024, with a value of over 1.47 million Australian dollars. Brisbane similarly had relatively high average residential housing values, passing Canberra and Melbourne to top the pricing markets for real estate across the country alongside Sydney. Housing affordability in Australia Throughout 2024, the average price of residential dwellings recovered across Australia, with most capital cities breaking price records despite interest rate hikes. Rising house prices continue to be an issue for potential homeowners, with many low and middle-income earners priced out of the market. In the third quarter of 2024, Australia’s house price-to-income ratio reached new heights at 122.1 index points. With the share of household income spent on mortgage repayments increasing alongside the disparity in supply and demand, inflating construction costs, and low borrowing capacity, the homeownership dream has become an unattainable prospect for the average person in Australia. Does the rental market offer better prospects? Renting for prolonged periods has become inevitable for many Australians due to the country’s largely inaccessible property ladder. However, record low vacancy rates and rising median weekly house and unit rent prices within Australia’s rental market are making renting a less appealing prospect. In financial year 2024, households in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area reported spending around 30 percent of their household income on rent.

In the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia, the median home price was approximately 860,000 Australian dollars in the year 2023. In 2022, the median house price was about 890,000 Australian dollars.

In 2024, one square meter of greenfield land cost an average of 992 Australian dollars in South East Queensland, Australia. This was the highest price recorded in the past decade for that region.

In the first half of 2020, the rental price of retail colocation space in Sydney, Australia, was between 230 and 280 U.S. dollars per month. Pricing in hyperscale cloud and wholesale colocation was less expensive, with monthly rent between 145 and 160 U.S. dollars for hyperscale, and 175 and 255 U.S. dollars for wholesale colocation. Hyperscale data centers have the largest power requirements and customers are usually a cloud or large tech company. Wholesale and retail colocation, on the other hand, have smaller power requirements.

European countries have some of the highest natural gas prices for households worldwide. Natural gas prices for households vary greatly around the world, depending on governmental levies, taxes, as well as local production. In Sweden, prices averaged 0.24 U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour in December 2023, whilst prices in Canada, a producer of natural gas, were just 0.04 U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour.