Property hotspot search intensifies as housing market enters new phase
Australia's broad housing boom may be over, but fresh data shows strong price growth, intense buyer demand and fast-selling suburbs still abound as local fundamentals take precedence over national trends.
Australia’s slowing property market has yet to extend to widespread annual losses.
New data reveals house prices increased in 85 per cent of Australian suburbs over the past 12 months, while unit prices rose in 90 per cent, according to realestate.com.au.
Even among suburbs where values declined, around half recorded falls of less than three per cent, suggesting the market’s moderation has been far from uniform.
After more than three years of broad-based price growth, the market has slowed appreciably. Higher interest rates, affordability pressures and weaker buyer confidence have cooled activity in many parts of the country, but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of suburbs from continuing to post impressive gains.
Instead, Australia’s property market is becoming increasingly fragmented, with buyers gravitating towards affordable, high-demand locations that continue to outperform broader market trends.
The country’s boom suburbs
| Rank | Suburb | State | Median AVM | 12 month % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOUSES | ||||
| 1 | Ravenswood | TAS | $511,000 | 41% |
| 2 | Home Hill | QLD | $404,000 | 40% |
| 3 | Waverley | TAS | $514,000 | 39% |
| 4 | Rangeway | WA | $461,000 | 39% |
| 5 | Sunshine Beach | QLD | $2,839,000 | 38% |
| 6 | Mayfield | TAS | $501,000 | 37% |
| 7 | Bayonet Head | WA | $879,000 | 36% |
| 8 | Charters Towers City | QLD | $383,000 | 35% |
| 9 | Merredin | WA | $328,000 | 35% |
| 10 | Forrest Beach | QLD | $525,000 | 35% |
| UNITS | ||||
| 1 | Hillcrest | QLD | $810,000 | 42% |
| 2 | Beenleigh | QLD | $670,000 | 42% |
| 3 | Orelia | WA | $492,000 | 42% |
| 4 | Jolimont | WA | $723,000 | 40% |
| 5 | Cranbrook | QLD | $380,000 | 40% |
| 6 | Boronia Heights | QLD | $860,000 | 40% |
| 7 | Slacks Creek | QLD | $717,000 | 39% |
| 8 | Clarkson | WA | $692,000 | 37% |
| 9 | Booval | QLD | $669,000 | 37% |
| 10 | Edens Landing | QLD | $745,000 | 37% |
REA Group
Local markets continue to outperform
The latest figures highlight just how dramatically local conditions can diverge from the national trendlines.
Tasmania claimed two of the country’s three best-performing house markets, with Ravenswood leading the nation after values surged 41 per cent over the year to June 2026, closely followed by Queensland’s Home Hill (40 per cent) and Waverley in Tasmania (39 per cent).
The strongest-performing unit markets were Hillcrest and Beenleigh in Queensland, together with Orelia in Western Australia, where values all climbed 42 per cent over the same period.
Buyer demand also remains concentrated in selected markets rather than spread evenly across Australia.
Queensland’s Rocklea, together with West Tamworth and Crows Nest in New South Wales, attracted the highest level of buyer enquiries for houses, while Concord West, Fairfield Heights and Bonnyrigg led demand for units.
Properties are also continuing to sell rapidly in many locations despite softer overall conditions. Houses in Gray and Wanguri in the Northern Territory, Woodvale in Western Australia and Skye in Victoria sold in a median of 10 days or less, while units in Summerhill, Toorak Gardens, Alexandra Hills and Kenmore typically changed hands within two weeks.
The figures reinforce that opportunities continue to exist for buyers and investors prepared to look beyond the national averages.
A changing market, not a collapsing one
The suburb-level performance comes as Domain’s June Quarter House Price Report confirms Australia’s broad housing boom has finally come to an end.
Combined capital city house prices fell 1.4 per cent over the June quarter, while unit prices declined 1.2 per cent — the first quarterly fall in more than three years.
The slowdown has been driven by higher borrowing costs, affordability constraints and softer consumer confidence following multiple interest rate rises and policy uncertainty surrounding the Federal Budget.
Domain Chief of Research and Economics Dr Nicola Powell said the June quarter represented a clear turning point.
“Three months of data confirm that higher interest rates, affordability pressures and weaker confidence are changing buyer behaviour and bringing the broad-based growth cycle to an end,” Dr Powell said.
Importantly, she said Australia was no longer behaving as a single housing market.
“Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra are in decline. Adelaide had continued to strengthen but has levelled out, and Darwin is bucking the trend in units, highlighting how local affordability, supply and demand are driving increasingly different outcomes,” Dr Powell said.
Sydney recorded the sharpest quarterly correction, with house prices falling 3.3 per cent — the city’s largest quarterly decline since 2022 — while Melbourne experienced its steepest fall in almost four years.
By contrast, Adelaide continued its remarkable run, with house prices climbing 4.8 per cent during the quarter to overtake Melbourne as Australia’s fourth most expensive capital city for houses.
Perth also continued to outperform nationally on an annual basis, although quarterly growth moderated, suggesting its extraordinary period of expansion may now be easing.
Dr Powell said affordability had become the dominant force shaping buyer behaviour.
“Strong population growth, limited housing supply and elevated construction costs continue to support prices, but affordability is now the dominant force shaping the market.
“Buyers have more choice, less urgency and greater negotiating power than they’ve had in several years,” she said.
Auction market reflects shifting sentiment
The auction market is also highlighting the changing mood among buyers and sellers.
Figures from Cotality released Monday (27 July) show the preliminary national auction clearance rate eased to 50 per cent last week, down from 54.8 per cent the previous week. While softer, the result remained stronger than the sub-50 per cent clearance rates recorded through much of late June and early July.
Cotality economist Annabelle Mezieres said the more stable result was partly driven by fewer vendors withdrawing properties before auction, with the withdrawal rate easing to 20 per cent after approaching one in four scheduled auctions earlier in the winter.
Auction activity, however, remains subdued. A total of 1,365 homes went under the hammer last week, 12.6 per cent fewer than the same week a year ago, extending a run of nine consecutive weeks where auction volumes have tracked below 2025 levels.
Ms Mezieres said the softer conditions reflected broader changes across the market, with fewer new listings coming to market nationally and more vendors opting for private treaty campaigns rather than auctions.
Melbourne again recorded the nation’s busiest auction market, with 599 scheduled auctions and the strongest preliminary clearance rate among the major capitals at 56.5 per cent. Sydney’s clearance rate slipped back below 50 per cent to 47.4 per cent, while Brisbane remained Australia’s weakest major auction market, with just 35.9 per cent of properties selling under the hammer.
