More than 200 markets breach the $1 million mark
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2020 was a wrecking ball of a year for much of the Australian property market, but the comeback over the past six months has been astonishing.
As a result of this year's resurgence, property analytics giant CoreLogic has identified 218 markets that have broken through the $1 million dollar median price barrier in May when compared to the same month last year.
Eliza Owen, CoreLogic's Head of Research Australia, says their first Million Dollar Markets report tracks "property value increases ranging from +5.0 per cent across greater Melbourne dwellings to a +20.3 per cent rise in values across Darwin, pushing a more vast range of markets up to, and beyond, the million dollar mark."
Has your suburb joined the million dollar club? We take a state-by-state look at what the report found.
New South Wales
Of the 218 markets breaching the milestone, about a quarter of them are located in Sydney.
The NSW capital is home to the highest number of million-dollar markets—340 house markets and 79 unit markets, a number that grew by +25.4 per cent in the year to May 2021.
Of the 41 house and 13 unit markets joining the ranks, waterfront suburbs on the Central Coast took out the top seven spots.
North Avoca saw the highest rate of growth, with median house prices soaring from $991,507 to $1,466,568 in just 12 months, and nearby spots like Copacabana, Wamberal and Terrigal weren't far behind.
Avalon Beach had the most dramatic rise for units, where the $979,690 value of 2020 has given way to a current median of $1,198,022.
In regional NSW, 30 markets have made their way past the million dollar mark—a +267 per cent annual increase.
Houses in Lennox Head rocketed up from a median of $990,798 to more than $1.4 million.
Byron Bay, the state's strongest regional house market, also had unit prices rise by more than +30 per cent, jumping from $881,409 to $1,163,325.
Victoria
The total number of million-dollar markets in Melbourne rose +34.3 per cent in the 12 months to May, meaning there are 45 house markets and four unit markets that have crossed the barrier.
Mount Macedon, which CoreLogic considers a part of Melbourne for the report, saw house prices jet from 2020 levels of $961,945 up to $1,319,881 within the year.
The next four highest risers were all suburbs of the Mornington Peninsula, with houses in Blairgowrie and Somers surging by as much as +45 per cent.
Toorak had the best performing units of the bunch, with values up +9.5 per cent to a new median of $1,041,717.
In terms of regional performers, last year there were just four Victorian markets outside of Melbourne that broke the $1 million median barrier. Now there are 11.
All of the newcomers are suburbs of Geelong, with beachside destination Jan Juc clocking the biggest rise.
There, the mean house is now worth $1,321,185, a full $366,690 more than it was a year ago.
Queensland
CoreLogic points out that Queensland is the only state that has similar numbers of regional and capital city million-dollar markets thanks to the popularity of coastal hubs like the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
In terms of the 22 Brisbane house markets that passed the million dollar mark in May, Ashgrove came out on top.
The leafy suburb managed a house value rise of +24.5 per cent, boosting the median price up to $1,207,524.
The rest of the list of newcomers is dominated by houses in inner-city locations like Norman Park, Seven Hills and Toowong. No unit markets made the leap up over the year.
Of the 25 regional spots that joined the $1 million club, Buddina on the Sunshine Coast came out on top with a median house price of $1,283,111, a massive increase of more than $300,000.
Units in Noosa Heads also zoomed ahead by more than +31 per cent to just under $1.2 million.
Western Australia
In May last year, there were 26 Perth suburbs where houses had a median house price of more than $1 million.
That number has now jumped up to a total of 42, a +62.5 per cent annual increase.
Of the suburbs to join that list, Marmion in the city's North West reached the highest median value, increasing from $939,620 in May 2020 to $1,186,078 last month.
At this point, Dalkeith in inner-Perth remains the city's most expensive suburb, with house prices currently sitting on a median of $2,832,329.
Just one regional WA locale, the Bunbury suburb of Yallingup, has a median house value of above $1 million—it's currently at $1,258,355.
South Australia, ACT and Tasmania
Over the course of the past year, the number of million-dollar house markets in Adelaide more than doubled to a total of 45.
The bulk of the new additions to the list sit within the Central and Hills area, with the inner suburb of Glen Osmond climbing almost $250,000 to reach a new median value of $1,226,501.
The ACT also saw a substantial increase in the number of suburbs passing the milestone—27 house markets are now above that $1 million threshold.
The parkside suburb of Hughes stormed up in value by more than +41 per cent, reaching a median price of $1,363,733.
Over the Bass Strait, Hobart remained with its two million dollar club members, Battery Point and Sandy Bay, with Battery Point values rising by a hefty +32.6 per cent over the year.
Full details on every new entrant to the list around the country are available via CoreLogic.
