Sydney’s priciest streets widen the gap in Australia’s luxury market
Ray White senior data analyst Atom Go Tian says Sydney’s elite postcodes are pulling further ahead, with Bellevue Hill dominating the nation’s most expensive streets in 2025.
3 min
Sydney has cemented its status as the nation’s luxury capital, with Kambala Road in Bellevue Hill being Australia’s most expensive street this year, posting a median house price of $39.35 million.
And, according to Ray White senior data analyst Atom Go Tian, last year’s leader, Wolseley Road, was excluded from this year’s rankings due to limited sales.
“Wolseley Road recorded only three sales this year and was therefore excluded from the rankings, though its $51.5 million median would have otherwise retained the top position,” he says.
Bellevue Hill continues its dominance, accounting for six of the nation’s top 10 streets. Tian says the suburb’s appeal lies in its rare blend of location and lifestyle advantages.
“The suburb’s enduring appeal lies in its rare combination of proximity to both the CBD and multiple beaches, harbour views, and large estate-sized blocks on tree-lined streets.”
Vaucluse remains a powerhouse in its own right. “Vaucluse extends this harbourside premium with even more direct beach access and panoramic water views,” he says.
The gulf between Sydney and the rest of the country remains striking.
According to Tian, “Sydney’s most expensive streets are more than five times more expensive than the leading streets in Perth and Brisbane, and more than 10 times the premium streets in Canberra and Adelaide.”
He attributes this to Sydney’s economic role and geographic constraints, describing it as “Australia’s financial capital and its most internationally connected city.”
Beyond Sydney, each capital city has developed its own luxury hierarchy. Tian highlights Melbourne’s stronghold in Toorak, noting that “Melbourne’s luxury market remains centred around Toorak, led by Clendon Road, St Georges Road and Linlithgow Road.”
Brisbane’s prestige pockets are more dispersed: “Brisbane’s luxury real estate shows a more diverse pattern,” he says, led by Laidlaw Parade at $6.5 million. Perth’s top-end market remains anchored in the Peppermint Grove–Dalkeith corridor, with Forrest Street at $7.5 million.
He also points to the stark contrast at the lower end of the spectrum. “Darwin presents a mirror image, hosting all 10 of the country’s cheapest streets,” Tian says. Austin Street in Southport sits at just $117,500.
The national spread reaches its extreme in New South Wales. “Sydney emerges as the most polarised market, spanning an extraordinary range from Railway Parade in Katoomba at $385,000 to Kambala Road’s $39.35 million,” Tian says.
Methodology: Tian’s analysis examines residential house sales between November 2022 and November 2025, with only streets recording at least five sales included. Several streets with higher medians, including Black Street, Queens Avenue and Clairvaux Road in Vaucluse, were excluded because they did not meet the sales threshold.
Australia’s housing market rebounded sharply in 2025, with lower-value suburbs and resource regions driving growth as rate cuts, tight supply and renewed competition reshaped the year.
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Australia’s housing market rebounded sharply in 2025, with lower-value suburbs and resource regions driving growth as rate cuts, tight supply and renewed competition reshaped the year.
5 minAustralia’s housing market staged a turnaround in 2025, defying intense affordability and cost-of-living pressures to deliver an above-decade-average growth rate of 7.7% through the year-to-date.
Cotality’s annual Best of the Best report, a detailed nationwide breakdown of the suburbs that rose fastest, had the highest rent return or offered the most accessible entry points, identifies which markets led the year’s recovery.
National dwelling values are set to close 2025 at least eight per cent higher, a result Cotality Australia Head of Research Eliza Owen says highlights how quickly conditions shifted after a challenging start.
“Markets entered 2025 under considerable pressure. Affordability had hit a series high, serviceability was stretched and price growth had flattened out. What followed was an unexpectedly strong rebound as interest rate cuts, easing inflation and limited supply reignited competition,” Ms Owen said.
Three rate cuts, an expansion of the 5% Home Guarantee Deposit Scheme and persistently low listing volumes helped drive the recovery, with the housing market recording three consecutive months of growth of at least 1% by November and reaching a new high of $12 trillion.
Owen said the turnaround was most visible across lower-value markets and regions where buyers were able to respond quickly to more favourable credit conditions.
“Tight supply meant even modest demand created upward pressure on prices. Cheaper markets were had the most acceleration because they remained within reach for buyers navigating higher living costs,” she said.
Prestige Sydney remains Australia’s price leader
Sydney’s top-end suburbs sat in their own price bracket in 2025, widening the gap between premium enclaves and the rest of the country.
Point Piper led the national list with a median house value of $17.3 million and unit medians above $3.1 million, followed by long-established areas such as Bellevue Hill, Vaucluse,
Tamarama and Rose Bay.
Owen said the resilience of premium Sydney markets was in sharp contrast to affordability pressures elsewhere.
“Affordability constraints were a defining feature of 2025, yet premium markets continued to operate on their own cycle. These suburbs are far less sensitive to borrowing costs and
listing trends, which is why their performance often diverges from the broader market,” she said.
Mosman recorded the highest total value of house sales nationally at $1.58 billion across 229 transactions, underlining the scale of turnover even in a year of strained serviceability.
Lower-value suburbs delivered the strongest gains
Western Australia dominated high house value growth in 2025, with Kalbarri increasing 40.2% to $515,378 followed by Rangeway (32.2%) and Lockyer (32.0%).
Similar trends emerged in the unit market, with strong results concentrated in Queensland’s mid-priced regions such as Cranbrook (up 29.3%) and Wilsonton (up 26.9%).
Ms Owen said the performance of these markets highlighted the role of affordability at a time of constrained borrowing power.
“Lower value areas offered buyers an opportunity to get into the market if they had the capacity to service a mortgage. Once interest rate cuts started to flow through, demand lifted
quickly in those areas where prices had further room to grow,” she said.
“Investors were a particularly strong driver of demand in markets across WA and QLD, where the share of new mortgage lending to investors reached 38.3% and 41.1%
respectively.”
Perth, Brisbane and Darwin lead capital-city upswing
Darwin posted the strongest rise among the capitals at 17.1% through the year-to-date, following a flat result in 2024, joined by Brisbane and Perth as Australia’s three top-performing capital cities.
The fastest growing capital-city suburb for houses was Mandogalup in Perth (up 33.0% to $944,609), alongside several outer Darwin suburbs where more moderate entry points below $600,000 supported stronger value growth.
The most affordable capital-city suburbs for houses were clustered around Greater Hobart, including Gagebrook, Herdsmans Cove and Bridgewater, all with medians under $450,000.
Suburbs in Adelaide and Darwin provided some of the best value for unit buyers, with medians ranging from less than $250,000 in Hackham, Adelaide to $328,416 for Karama in Darwin.
Biggest gains and the steepest falls in regional Australia
Strong upswings in WA and Queensland contrasted with declines in other regional pockets.
House values fell 11.6% in Millthorpe (NSW) and 10.5% in Tennant Creek (NT) while several unit markets recorded annual declines, including South Hedland (down 14.1%) and Mulwala (down 11.8%).
Owen said these differences reflected the uneven backdrop of supply levels, migration flows and localised demand.
“Some regional areas are still benefiting from relative affordability and tight rental conditions.
Others are adjusting to earlier periods of rapid growth or shifts in local economic activity,” she said.
Mining towns produced the highest yields
Rental demand remained firm across key resource corridors in regional WA and parts of regional Queensland, where constrained supply, strong employment bases and short-stay
workforces contributed to some of the highest yields in the country.
Newman, in the Pilbara, delivered the strongest house yields at 12.6%, reflecting demand linked to iron ore operations, Kambalda East, near the Goldfields mining belt, followed at
12.2%, supported by nickel and gold activity.
Unit yields were even stronger, with South Hedland leading the country at 17.8%, while Newman recorded 14.3% and Pegs Creek recorded 13.2%, as apartment stock is limited
and worker demand remains consistent.
Pegs Creek, located in Karratha, recorded a 23.5% increase in house rents over the year and Rockhampton City recorded a 21.1% jump in unit rents.
Constraints to shape 2026
Market conditions are expected to be more restrained in 2026 as borrowing capacity, affordability and credit assessments place limitations on demand.
National listings remain 18% below the five-year average and new housing completions continue to trail household formation, maintaining the structural imbalance that supported
stronger conditions in 2025.
Owen said that imbalance alone is not enough to drive the same level of growth next year.
“Supply remains tight, but the demand environment is shifting. Inflation forecasts have been revised higher, interest rate expectations have adjusted with them, and households are
facing stricter borrowing assessments. Those factors can temper buyer activity even when stock levels are low,” she said.
“Lower value markets may still outperform because they carry less sensitivity to credit constraints, but overall growth is likely to be more measured compared with 2025.”
Key findings – Cotality Best of The Best (BoB) 2025
- Lower-value suburbs delivered the strongest value gains, led by Kalbarri (WA), up 40.2% for houses, and Cranbrook (Qld), up 29.3% for units.
- Sydney’s premium suburbs remained the country’s highest value markets, with Point Piper recording a house median of $17.3 million and unit median of more than $3.1
million.
- Mosman recorded the highest total value of house sales nationally, with $1.58 billion transacted across 229 sales.
- WA’s resource-linked towns produced the nation’s strongest rental yields, with Newman at 12.6% for houses and South Hedland at 17.8% for units.
- Pegs Creek (WA) had the highest annual house rent increase at 23.5%, unit rents rose the highest in Rockhampton (QLD), up 21.1%.
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