Sydney had the highest median house value compared to other capital cities in Australia as of April 2025, with a value of over **** 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 remained high across Australia, with several capital cities breaking price records. 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 fourth quarter of 2024, Australia’s house price-to-income ratio declined slightly to ***** 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 elevated 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 ** percent of their household income on rent.

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.

As of 2024, the average price of entry level houses in Sydney, Australia came to around ******* Australian dollars, marking an annual increase of over *** percent. Canberra had the second-highest entry house prices across the country's capital cities that year. Prospective first-home buyers in Perth saw the largest annual growth in entry house prices, at over ** percent.

In the first quarter of 2025, the house price-to-rent ratio in Australia was estimated at ***, marking a decrease from the same quarter of the previous year. An indicator of how strong the property market is, the house price-to-rent ratio was calculated by dividing nominal house prices by rent price indices. Within the given period, after reaching a peak in the first quarter of 2022, the price-to-rent ratio decreased each quarter until the second quarter of 2023. From then on, the house price-to-rent ratio fluctuated, but largely trended downwards. Is Australia in a property bubble? Many industry experts believe the country is in a property bubble, indicated by the rapid increase in Australian property market prices to the point that they are no longer relative to incomes and rents, followed by a decline. The house price-to-income ratio was on an upward trend between the third quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2024. Nonetheless, after hitting its peak, it declined to ***** in the fourth quarter of 2024. Rental property demand In March 2025, the rental vacancy rate, which indicates how many properties are available for rent out of all the rental stock, was relatively high in Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney. That year, the average weekly rent prices varied across the country depending on the city, with the highest average weekly rents for houses and units in Sydney. Hobart, on the other hand, had the most affordable rental properties across Australia's capital cities.

Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing data was reported at 178.500 1989-1990=100 in Jun 2012. This records an increase from the previous number of 177.900 1989-1990=100 for Mar 2012. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing data is updated quarterly, averaging 98.700 1989-1990=100 from Sep 1972 (Median) to Jun 2012, with 160 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 178.500 1989-1990=100 in Jun 2012 and a record low of 19.200 1989-1990=100 in Sep 1972. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.I009: Consumer Price Index: 1989-90=100: Eight Capital Cities.

Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Rents: Rents data was reported at 124.000 2011-2012=100 in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 123.600 2011-2012=100 for Dec 2024. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Rents: Rents data is updated quarterly, averaging 55.700 2011-2012=100 from Sep 1972 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 211 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 124.000 2011-2012=100 in Mar 2025 and a record low of 10.100 2011-2012=100 in Sep 1972. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Rents: Rents data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.I007: Consumer Price Index: 2011-12=100: Eight Capital Cities.

Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Other data was reported at 191.200 2011-2012=100 in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 190.400 2011-2012=100 for Dec 2024. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Other data is updated quarterly, averaging 99.700 2011-2012=100 from Jun 1998 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 108 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 191.200 2011-2012=100 in Mar 2025 and a record low of 58.400 2011-2012=100 in Jun 1998. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Other data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.I007: Consumer Price Index: 2011-12=100: Eight Capital Cities.

Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Utilities data was reported at 162.300 2011-2012=100 in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 157.200 2011-2012=100 for Dec 2024. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Utilities data is updated quarterly, averaging 43.600 2011-2012=100 from Sep 1972 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 211 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 164.100 2011-2012=100 in Sep 2024 and a record low of 5.100 2011-2012=100 in Mar 1973. Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI): Canberra: Housing: Utilities data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.I007: Consumer Price Index: 2011-12=100: Eight Capital Cities.