Australian property is once again in the midst of a growth cycle. After prices cooled in late 2024, 2025 has, aside from a flat January, delivered consistent gains. Much of this momentum is being fuelled by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s ongoing easing cycle, which has yet to reach its “terminal rate,” with several more rate cuts expected through the remainder of 2025 and into 2026.

Affordability has become the defining challenge in the residential real estate market. First home buyers are struggling to break in, squeezed by high entry prices, while many investors have stayed on the sidelines in recent years amid elevated interest rates and intense competition.

Yet the hunt for the next property hotspot never stops. It might not have the glamour of Bondi or Byron Bay. Still, a number of pockets within Australia’s largest capital cities are outperforming the broader market — and they’re attracting growing attention from buyers and investors alike.

We’ve looked at the best-performing SA4 regions from property data analytics firm Cotality.

Brisbane

Brisbane has been the strongest capital city property market over the last two years. The market has been supercharged by the announcement of the 2032 Brisbane Summer Olympics, but the market has been on fire since 2020, when there was an exodus from the southern states to the Sunshine States, which drove Brisbane to Australia’s second most expensive capital city.

Over the last 12 months, Brisbane dwelling values have risen by 7.3%, only bettered by growth in Darwin. There are some pockets around the city which have outperformed the market. The top five SA4s (regions) are:

Nundah (North)
Median value $988,394
Annual change +11.8%
Ipswich Hinterland (Ipswich)
Median $790,119
Annual +10.7%.
Redcliffe (Moreton Bay – North)
Median $903,286
Annual +10.0%.
Caboolture Hinterland (Moreton Bay – North)
Median $888,571
Annual +10.0%.
Ipswich Inner (Ipswich)
Median $726,560
Annual +9.9%.

Brisbane is not only posting solid citywide gains, but the strongest pockets are outside the CBD. Growth is concentrated in Moreton Bay, Ipswich and northern corridors (Nundah/Redcliffe). That pattern points to ongoing demand for more affordable family housing and lifestyle submarkets within commuting distance of the city.

Melbourne

Melbourne has been the polar opposite to Brisbane in the last few years. It has been one of the worst-performing property markets, slipping to the sixth most expensive capital city in the rankings with a median dwelling value of $803,000. Only Hobart and Darwin media dwelling values are lower.

Dwelling values are only up 0.5% year to date; however, 2025 has been more positive since the RBA started cutting rates. Dwelling values are up 2.4% year to date, and growth is becoming more consistent, something which Melbourne has struggled with since being the most locked-down city in the world during the pandemic. Struggling to respond from then.

There have been some pockets, however, where growth has been stronger over the last 12 months. The top five SA4 regions have been:

Frankston (Mornington Peninsula)
Median $793,152
Annual +6.0%.
Tullamarine–Broadmeadows (North West)
Median $709,167
Annual +5.0%.
Knox (Outer East)
Median $942,980
Annual +4.5%.
Dandenong (South East)
Median $757,195,
Annual +3.8%.
Sunbury (North West)
Median $694,151
Annual +3.8%.
These top performers show growth focused on middle-ring and growth-corridor suburbs (Mornington Peninsula, northwest and outer east). For Melbourne readers, the implication is that recovery is geographically uneven — steady gains in commuter and lifestyle belts rather than a broad inner-city surge.

Sydney

Sydney, Australia’s most expensive capital, sits somewhere between Brisbane and Melbourne in its performance. The Harbour Capital is often the most impacted during a downturn, given the relative affordability of Sydney compared to the other capital cities. But then when there are good times, Sydney usually is the strongest beneficiary.

Dwelling prices are 2.6% up year to date, but the house market is largely outstripping the unit growth. Houses were up 0.8% in April, the strongest performing capital city house market on the eastern seaboard.

Sydney’s best-performing regions have been found well outside of the postcard suburbs Sydney is known for. The five best-performing SA4s in Greater Sydney by 12-month growth are:

St Marys (Outer West & Blue Mountains)
Median $1,024,688
Annual +7.4%.
Fairfield (South West)
Median $1,189,601
Annual +7.0%.
Liverpool (South West)
Median $1,123,438
Annual +6.8%.
Richmond–Windsor (Outer West & Blue Mountains)
Median $945,556
Annual +6.7%.
Bankstown (Inner South West)
Median $1,408,088
Annual +6.6%.
Sydney’s strongest performers are dominated by the western and south-western corridors — affordable family suburbs and growth-area precincts where demand and price momentum remain strong. The much larger median values in some of these SA4s also show that even within growth suburbs, prices are high relative to national benchmarks.

In Sydney’s Northern Beaches, there are plenty of homes with a multimillion-dollar view and an enviable position close to the sand.

This unique listing has all that, but it has also earned its page in the local history books.

After 50 years in the same hands, The Palladium in Palm Beach—once a famed dance hall, then a restaurant, a private residence, and an artists’ studio—is now back on the market with a price hopes of $13.5 million through BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach.

Positioned in a rare corner spot where Ocean Rd meets Palm Beach Rd, The Palladium has been front and centre observing the famous sandy stretch for almost a century.

Built in the early 1930s, the Art Deco building was originally conceived as a vibrant community dance hall; the “it” place to be for young folk during Sydney’s thriving interwar period.

Often the dances were held to raise money for the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club, and newspaper reports of the time told of rowdy parties lasting until the early hours, bootleg liquor arrests, and where shorts and sandals—or even pyjamas—were scandalously worn by “both sexes”.

Over the decades, The Palladium has worn many hats.

By 1943, the original owner, Joseph Henry Graham, had defaulted on his loan, and a mortgagee sale reportedly sold the building for £1550, which translates to about $137,000 today. It later became a dining space and a general store run by the Milton family. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the property was also home to the Blue Pacific Restaurant.

The current owners acquired the keys in 1976 when it began its next chapter as a creative hub. One of today’s vendors, filmmaker David Elfick, who has been a filmmaker and producer on such films as Newsfront and Rabbit-Proof Fence, has told stories of a free-spirited creative hub that has been used for film sets, to store numerous movie props, as editing rooms, to hold countless parties and has even hosted visiting members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

From its famed beachside soirees to its grassroots film club nights, the venue has become woven into the cultural fabric of Palm Beach.

Today, that rich history has been reimagined into a coastal home that honours its past while embracing contemporary beachside living.

Built in a unique architectural style known as streamline moderne, the aeroplane hangar-like building reflects the era’s fascination with air travel, mass transport, and modernity. The facade is defined by a sweeping curved roofline and subtle nautical cues.

The main residence features a vast central living space framed by a number of bedrooms and sunrooms, as well as a front dining room and kitchen. In total, there are four to five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a powder room adjoining an upstairs loft space.

Big, broad windows draw in loads of natural light and provide iconic views, plus the sounds of the beach just across the road.

Many of the original elements remain, most fittingly the polished floors of the former dance hall. In the additional building at the back of the block, there is a separate, self-contained studio with its own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and laundry. From its elevated deck, the outlook stretches across the full sweep of Palm Beach.

Outside, the expansive 1151sq m land parcel also features established gardens with veggie patches and standalone decks for quiet contemplation.

Sitting just across the road from the beach, the property is also within walking distance of local cafes and the surf club. Palm Beach Rock Pool is at one end of the beach, with the Palm Beach Golf Club and the water airport at the other end of the peninsula.

The Palladium and Palm Beach Studio at 16 Ocean Rd, Palm Beach are listed with BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach via a private treaty campaign with a price guide of $13.5 million.

Where to Invest in 2025: Top-Performing Suburbs in Australia’s Property Market

Australia’s market is on the move again, and not always where you’d expect. We’ve found the surprise suburbs where prices are climbing fastest.

Brisbane

Melbourne

Sydney

After half a century in the same hands, The Palladium blends Art Deco heritage, cinematic history and beachfront living in one extraordinary offering.