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Home sales like the $570,000 deal struck for 51 Ridley Rd, Elizabeth South, have helped the suburb to the top of the nation’s property market growth list in 2024.
Affordable Aussie suburbs have dominated the list of the nation’s top performing housing markets, many piling on an incredible 50 per cent of their value in just 12 months.
But price surges in once cheap parts of the country could have would-be home buyers facing a tough start to 2025, with prices surging hundreds of thousands and interest rate cuts still widely expected to be months away.
The town of Wagin in regional Western Australia, south east of Perth, had home values at just $182,000 a year ago.
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It came close to a six-figure jump as its median price grew to $272,000 by the end of November.
Wagin was one of the seven suburbs or towns around the country to start 2024 with a typical house costing less than $600,000 and gain at least 44.6 per cent.
Every town except for Wagin in the nation’s 10 top performing regions made six figure gains, and it was one of the nation’s more affordable capital city areas that outpaced all the rest.
Home values in Adelaide’s Elizabeth South jumped 56.7 per cent in the past year.
It equates to a $170,000 lift in the suburb’s typical home price, taking it to a $470,000 median far below what most capital city home buyers expect to pay.
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Another Adelaide suburb, Brighton South, was the next best performing neighbourhood in the country, with values there jumping $230,000, about 52 per cent, to a new median price of $1.345m.
Suburbs in regional Queensland, Western Australia and NSW filled out most of the rest of the nation’s 10 best performing areas.
The Perth suburbs of Hillman and Camillo, where values rose 44.8 per cent and 44.6 per cent respectively, rounded out the list.
AUSTRALIA’S FASTEST GROWING HOUSING SUBURBS IN 2024
| Elizabeth South | Adelaide | $470,000 | 56.7% |
| South Brighton | Adelaide | $1,345,000 | 52.0% |
| Rockhampton City | Rest of QLD | $345,000 | 50.0% |
| Wagin | Rest of WA | $272,000 | 49.3% |
| Bonville | Rest of NSW | $1,358,000 | 46.8% |
| Millmerran | Rest of QLD | $365,000 | 46.0% |
| Byron Bay | Rest of NSW | $3,500,000 | 45.5% |
| Port Denison | Rest of WA | $500,000 | 44.9% |
| Hillman | Perth | $600,000 | 44.8% |
| Camillo | Perth | $546,000 | 44.6% |
Source: PropTrack
There were no Victorian suburbs that made the top 10, with the state’s strongest market a the Mornington Peninsula coastal hamlet of Tyabb — where the $960,000 median house price rose 26.3 per cent.
PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said Melbourne had recorded “much softer conditions in the past few years” explaining Victoria’s absence from the top performing regions list.
For the rest of the country, Mr Moore noted that big gains led to a surge in new home loans being issued with bigger deposits — suggesting at least some of the Australians making windfalls from their home value growing in 2024 decided to upgrade alongside a market boom.
33 Urban St, Wagin, is listed for sale at $320,000 a bargain almost anywhere else — but above the local $272,000 median price.
“Data from the banking regulator shows we’ve seen an increase in mortgages with large deposits, which is consistent with people looking to upgrade, perhaps sooner than they had planned to,” he said.
But with affordable suburbs with median house prices at $600,000 or below accounting for seven of Australia’s 10 best performing property markets, Mr Moore said it was clear housing affordability being at a decades low was having an impact.
“In that environment, people will be looking for more affordable housing,” he said.
This would also potentially drive some buyers towards units, he added.
AUSTRALIA’S FASTEST GROWING UNIT SUBURBS IN 2024
| Little Bay | Sydney | $1,356,000 | 53.7% |
| Kelmscott | Perth | $470,000 | 51.6% |
| Harristown | Rest of QLD | $380,000 | 49.6% |
| Doubleview | Perth | $595,000 | 44.1% |
| Somerton Park | Adelaide | $680,000 | 44.0% |
| Coolbellup | Perth | $500,000 | 42.9% |
| Dudley Park | Perth | $440,000 | 42.9% |
| Orelia | Perth | $288,000 | 42.0% |
| Woodridge | Brisbane | $368,000 | 41.3% |
| Shoalwater | Perth | $355,000 | 39.2% |
Source: PropTrack
Australia’s top performing suburb for apartments, townhouses and flats in 2024 was the well-heeled Little Bay in Sydney, where the typical unit price surged 53.7 per cent to $1.356m.
But it was followed by an array of affordable areas, including Kelmscott in Perth, up 51.6 per cent to $470,000, and Harristown in regional Queensland, which gained 49.6 per cent to hit $380,000.
Mr Moore noted that reduced borrowing capacity likely explained affordable units being popular enough to drive up values in Perth and Queensland, as well as Adelaide, where the suburb of Somerton Park jumped 44 per cent to $680,000 and became the nation’s fifth strongest unit market.
The two-bedroom apartment at 202/1 Pavilion Drive, Little Bay, sold for $1.93m last month.
A two-bedroom unit at 2/57 Harrow Rd, Somerton Park, snared $870,000 in October.
The economist said it was important to note that while the figures showed substantial growth, at a suburban level it was possible for more limited sales numbers to influence median home value growth from year to year.
If an area recorded more sales at the top end of the market, or fewer at the lower end, median home prices could appear to rise more dramatically than they might have in reality.
“Individual suburbs can be more volatile, so they can be more susceptible to the type of homes being sold,” Mr Moore said.
However, the economist added that he expected affordable areas would continue to perform in 2025, though it was likely there would be a “range of outcomes” for property markets around the nation.
Brisbane’s top performing unit market was Woodridge, where three-bedroom townhouses like recently sold 15/17 Marlow St can cost $485,000.
“If we look at broader trends for next year, affordability will remain a headwind for home prices,” Mr Moore said.
“We are expecting interest rate cuts next year. And that will help to support home prices.
“But we won’t see lots of interest rate cuts, and we won’t see enough to get back to levels seen during the early stage of the pandemic — but it will improve things.”
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