The key drawcard for property buyers in Australia’s capital city markets
The latest data from CoreLogic has identified the most affordable suburbs attracting buyers around the country
3 min
Residential property price growth in FY24 was strongest in the lower price brackets of every capital city except Darwin, data from CoreLogic has revealed. Meantime, the mid-tier capital cities of Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide continue to lead the nation in overall value growth. Many home buyers and investors are gravitating toward cheaper suburbs that offer greater affordability due to ongoing price rises and higher interest rates constraining borrowing capacity.
“After recording a higher rate of gain through the early months of the growth cycle, conditions have faded across the upper quartile as borrowing capacity reduced and affordability constraints deflected demand towards middle-and-lower-priced properties,” said CoreLogic research director, Tim Lawless.
Over the past three months, apartment prices have also risen faster than houses in every city bar Darwin and Canberra, indicating more home buyers are compromising on the type of property they buy.
“Most cities now have a median house value that is at least 1.5 times higher than the median unit value,” Mr Lawless said. “With stretched housing affordability, lower borrowing capacity and a lift in both investor and first home buyer activity, it’s not surprising to see the unit sector outperforming for a change.”
REA Group economic analyst Megan Lieu said affordability was “now a key drawcard for buyers”.
“Demand from buyers has been high in the past year due to a number of factors that include strong population growth, increased confidence in the market and scarce rental availability,” Ms Lieu said. “Prices are expected to keep rising in the coming months due to strong demand. However, as housing affordability declines, buyers will likely continue gravitating towards more affordable areas.”
Ms Lieu said REA analysed FY24 search data from its website, realestate.com.au, to identify the ‘affordable’ hot spot suburbs of each capital city. The analysis focused on suburbs with median house and apartment prices below their capital city’s medians, and identified the most popular suburbs based on search volumes.
Here are the results.
Sydney
Sydney’s median house price is $1,407,000. The three most popular affordable suburbs for houses were Blacktown (median $980,000), Campbelltown ($855,000) and Oran Park ($1,080,000).
Sydney’s median apartment price is $775,000. The three most searched affordable suburbs were Blacktown ($530,000), Ryde ($738,000) and Hornsby ($708,000).
Melbourne
Melbourne’s median house price is $870,000. The three most searched affordable suburbs were Frankston ($740,000), Sunbury ($660,000) and Craigieburn ($640,000).
Melbourne’s median apartment price is $605,000. The most popular affordable suburbs in FY24 were Melbourne CBD ($560,000), Richmond ($590,000) and Hawthorn ($584,000).
Brisbane
Brisbane’s median house price is $840,000. The most popular affordable suburbs were Redcliffe ($770,000), North Lakes ($809,000) and Narangba ($780,000).
Brisbane’s median unit value is $555,000. The most searched affordable suburbs were Nundah ($535,000), Wilston ($550,000) and Kedron ($535,000).
Adelaide
Adelaide’s median house value is $751,000. The most searched affordable suburbs were Mawson Lakes ($725,000), Modbury ($701,000) and Mount Barker ($661,500).
Adelaide’s median unit price is $501,000. The most popular affordable suburbs were Adelaide CBD ($479,000), West Beach ($495,000) and Mawson Lakes ($440,000).
Perth
Perth’s median house price is $680,000. The most popular affordable suburbs were Baldivis ($611,000), Rockingham ($610,000) and Morley ($676,000).
Perth’s median unit price is $450,000. The affordable suburbs with the highest search volumes in FY24 were Wembley ($330,000), Mount Lawley ($430,000) and Yokine ($430,000).
Hobart
Hobart’s median house price is $700,000. The most popular affordable suburbs were Geilston Bay ($693,500), Moonah ($610,000) and Glenorchy ($558,000).
Hobart’s median apartment value is $531,000. The most searched affordable suburbs were New Town ($455,000), Glenorchy ($440,000) and Sorell ($507,000).
Darwin
Darwin’s median house price is $568,000. The most popular affordable suburbs in FY24 were Zuccoli ($530,000), Durack ($550,000) and Wulagi ($528,000).
Darwin’s median unit price is also $568,000. The most searched affordable suburbs were Darwin CBD ($440,000), Nightcliff ($382,000) and Fannie Bay ($502,000).
Canberra
Canberra’s median house price is $950,000. The most searched affordable suburbs for houses were Kambah ($850,000), Gungahlin ($900,000) and Casey ($815,000).
Canberra’s median unit price is $605,000. The most popular affordable suburbs were Braddon ($582,000), O’Connor ($531,000) and Lyneham ($520,000).
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A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
3 min
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
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