The east coast of Australia is the nation's true heartland, with the combined population of Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Tasmania representing 81% of Australia's population. Large property markets exist in all state capitals, with Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane accounting for the vast majority of market share. Prices across most cities have remained strong despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with median house prices across capital cities up 4.6%, and median unit prices up 2.2% over the year.
According to the latest Domain House Price Report, there has been major discrepancies between state capitals and regional areas over recent months. While Melbourne has been through a number of challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown response, prices are holding despite a significant number of Victorians interested in moving to other states. Increased interstate activity on realestate.com has come from a number of inner and affluent Melbourne suburbs, including Malvern, Hawthorn, Northcote, Richmond, and Brunswick.
The Sydney and Brisbane markets are both forging ahead, with recent data by Select Residential Property (SRP) highlighting the hottest suburbs as we enter 2021. The NSW capital has mostly shrugged off its COVID-19 worries, with affluent areas doing very well and healthy growth recorded across the city's south. According to SRP's head of research Jeremy Sheppard, the south is "an aspirational area, it's semi-affluent, not as much as the eastern suburbs... With interest rates dropping and with prices coming back somewhat from the last boom, it seems to be gathering a lot of interest from buyers."
The hottest suburbs in Sydney right now include Dover Heights with 6.6% growth forecast over the next year; Beverley Park with 6.3% growth; and Illawong, Kareela, Como, and Peakhurst Heights with 6.1% growth forecast. This growth is expected to continue well beyond 12 months, with Dover Heights forecast to reach 14% growth over 2 years, and the other suburbs mentioned forecast to record 13% growth. While the western suburbs are also expected to grow, homeowners may have to wait a few years longer to see real gains on the ground.
In the sunshine state, a number of suburbs in Brisbane are also expected to perform well over the next 12-24 months. Some areas are set to skyrocket in value according to SRP, including Carina Heights with 7.3% and 15% growth over 1 and 2 years; Mount Gravatt, Mansfield, and Chapel Hill with 7.1% and 15% growth; and Graceville with 7.0% and 14% growth over 12 and 24 months. As more Victorians search for homes in Queensland, prices are also likely to boom in the coastal locations of Surfers Paradise, Noosa, and Broadbeach.
On the other side of the price growth spectrum, median prices have remained virtually flat over a five-year period in more than 20 east coast suburbs. The Melbourne suburbs of Doncaster, Southbank, and Abbotsford recorded 0.0%, 0.5%, and 0.9% growth respectively. In Sydney, the high-end suburb of Sans Souci recorded just 0.2% growth, with Strathfield, Burwood, Warwick Farm, and Haymarket all flat over five years. Up north in Brisbane, Hamilton was flat over five years and West End recorded negative growth at -0.1%.