The average price of Australian residential property has risen over the past ten years, and in December 2024, it reached 976,800 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, with minor fluctuations in 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 April 2025. 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 10 percent increase from April 2024, 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 December quarter of 2024, the number of residential dwellings reached around 11.29 million, representing an increase of about 53,200 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, elevated mortgage interest rates in recent years 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.

Key information about House Prices Growth

• Australia house prices grew 2.9% YoY in Dec 2024, following an increase of 5.8% YoY in the previous quarter.
• YoY growth data is updated quarterly, available from Sep 2004 to Dec 2024, with an average growth rate of 5.8%.
• House price data reached an all-time high of 24.1% in Dec 2021 and a record low of -6.1% in Mar 2019.

CEIC calculates quarterly House Price Index Growth from quarterly Residential Dwellings: Mean Price of Eight Capital Cities. The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides Residential Dwellings: Mean Price of Eight Capital Cities in local currency. House Price Index Growth prior to Q3 2012 is calculated from Residential Property Price Index: Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities.

Graph and download economic data for Real Residential Property Prices for Australia (QAUR628BIS) from Q1 1970 to Q4 2024 about Australia, residential, HPI, housing, real, price index, indexes, and price.

The house price-to-income ratio in Australia was ***** as of the fourth quarter of 2024. This ratio, calculated by dividing nominal house prices by nominal disposable income per head, increased from the previous quarter. The price-to-income ratio can be used to measure housing affordability in a specific area. Australia's property bubble There has been considerable debate over the past decade about whether Australia is in a property bubble or not. A property bubble refers to a sharp increase in the price of property that is disproportional to income and rental prices, followed by a decline. In Australia, rising house prices have undoubtedly been an issue for many potential homeowners, pricing them out of the market. Along with the average house price, high mortgage interest rates have exacerbated the issue. Is the homeownership dream out of reach? Housing affordability has varied across the different states and territories in Australia. In 2024, the median value of residential houses was the highest in Sydney compared to other major Australian cities, with Brisbane becoming an increasingly expensive city. Nonetheless, expected interest rate cuts in 2025, alongside the expansion of initiatives to improve Australia's dwelling stock, social housing supply, and first-time buyer accessibility to properties, may start to improve the situation. These encompass initiatives such as the Australian government's Help to Buy scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) programs.

Average House Prices in Australia increased to 1002.50 AUD Thousand in the first quarter of 2025 from 995.60 AUD Thousand in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for Australia Mean Dwelling Price.

As of April 2025, Sydney had the highest median residential property value compared to other capital cities in Australia, with an average dwelling value of around **** million Australian dollars. Brisbane followed, with a median residential dwelling value of around ******* Australian dollars.

Sydney was the markets with the highest rent for industrial and logistics real estate in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in the second half of 2023. Sydney had an average net asking rent of over 22 U.S. dollars per square meter per month, eight U.S. dollars above the average rent in the second-ranking market, Brisbane. Rents in India, on the other hand, were substantially lower. In Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi, the square meter rent was less than one U.S. dollar.

In 2024, Sydney had the highest price per square meter of land across major cities in Australia. Lot buyers expected to pay a premium of 1,617 Australian dollars per square meter in the capital of New South Wales. Conversely, lot buyers in Adelaide expected to spend around 750 Australian dollars per square meter of land. Prices through the roof Over the past decade, the surge in land and housing costs has been attributed to rapid population growth, driving up median prices for property and land, particularly in cities. In Sydney, the per square meter price of land has almost tripled since 2010, while the number of new property listings has declined over the years. A shortage of residential land available to build on has exacerbated the housing affordability crisis in Australia. Will lending rates continue to climb? The homeownership dream is out of reach for the average Australian without a housing loan. Nevertheless, Australia's high mortgage interest rates for both owner-occupiers and investors have impacted current and aspiring mortgage holders, with the value of household lending trending downwards over the past two years. While rates remained high in the first half of 2024, they likely reached their peak, as shown by the gradual plateau in the second half of the year. This stabilization should, in turn, accelerate buying, selling, and lending activities.

In 2024, one square meter of greenfield land cost an average of 1,617 Australian dollars in Sydney, marking an increase of over 100 Australian dollars from the previous year. Sydney has one of the highest land price rates for greenfield development in Australia.

In the second quarter of 2021, South Adelaide had an average 6.75 percent market yield of industrial property in Australia. The entire state of Sydney had the lowest market yield with an average market yield of four percent or below in the same quarter.

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.

The average housing costs for Australian renters of private property amounted to 415 Australian dollars per week in 2020. In 2022, between 21 to 29 percent of the household income of renters was spent on rent across the country.

Short-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic

With the global outbreak of COVID-19, the historically strong Australian housing market is not immune. In the short-term, the country saw a drop in rental housing demand as a direct result of migration ceasing, falling overseas student numbers, and younger people opting to stay home. With travel opening up, a spike in rental vacancy rates is expected, with short-term rentals, such as those from travel websites, suddenly flooding the long-term rental market. The influx of housing may ease pressure on potential tenants in certain areas, and it may have the carry-on effect of rental costs stabilizing, or in some cases declining. In the inner suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, for instance, there has already been a significant increase in rental listings compared to the previous year.

In the first quarter of 2024, data centers in Singapore's monthly rental price (excluding electricity cost) ranged from 315 to 480 U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour. In comparison, data centers in Sydney, Australia's monthly rental rate started at 160 U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour.

The central business district in Sydney had the highest average capital value of office property in Australia in the second quarter of 2021 with an average capital value of 19,800 Australian dollars per square meter. The central business district in Melbourne had an average capital value of office property of 12,500 Australian dollars per square meter in Australia.

In the second quarter of 2021, South Sydney had the most expensive net face rent of industrial property in Australia with a net face rent of 213 Australian dollars per square meter. The second highest net face rent was in Central West Sydney with a net face rent of 163 Australian dollars per square meter.

In the first quarter of 2025, the average net face rent of industrial property in New South Wales was around 266 Australian dollars per square meter. In comparison, the average net face rent of industrial property in Victoria was around 148 Australian dollars per square meter.

The central business district in New South Wales had the highest average net face rent for prime office property in Australia in the first quarter of 2025, with an average rent of 1,519 Australian dollars per square meter. In comparison, Victoria's CBD had an average net face rent of 736 Australian dollars per square meter of office property.