Since Covid arrived down under, Australian property prices have skyrocketed — with some sought after suburbs surging ahead by more than 100 per cent, new research reveals.
REA Group’s research team PropTrack has crunched the numbers and unveiled which areas have seen the most price growth since March 2020.
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In just two years, five suburbs have experienced growth in excess of 100 per cent, with 46 seeing medians jump by more than $1m.
![In just two years five suburbs have experienced growth in excess of 100 per cent, with 46 seeing medians jump by more than $1m. Picture: Supplied](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In just two years five suburbs have experienced growth in excess of 100 per cent, with 46 seeing medians jump by more than $1m. Picture: Supplied
NSW was home to the neighbourhoods with the greatest gains, but with an eclectic group of locations and price brackets.
Holiday hotspot turned pandemic retreat of Byron Bay had a whopping 114 per cent rise in two years, with a median change from $1.414m to $3.025m.
However, it was not the largest growth in the country, as the top spot went to Wyee in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW.
This five-bedroom home at 6 Walker St, Byron Bay sold in December 2021 for $3.65m, more than the median for the holiday hot spot where prices soared by 114 per cent in 24 months. Picture: Supplied
Located 115kms from Sydney’s CBD, Wyee prices increased by 142 per cent in two years, but the price point is far off other top contenders.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, Wyee’s median went from just $330,000 to $797,500. The second on the list of high growth suburbs was not a coveted beachside enclave, but Austral in south western Sydney with a 132 per cent increase from $439,400 to $1.018m.
Another surprising entrant in the top 25 was Charleville in country Queensland.
The town of 3300 inhabitants 750kms west of Brisbane had a median of just $83,750 prior to the pandemic but rose to $152,500 in 24 months.
Wyee in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW saw a 142 per cent jump in prices between March 2020 and March 2022. This five-bedroom home fetched $870,000 in August last year. Picture: Supplied
Angus Moore, economist with PropTrack said just last year alone price growth had been “extremely strong”.
“Prices were up 23 per cent over 2021 which is the third fastest movement in 140 years in Australia,” he said.
“We don’t have any records going back further than that, so it’s probably fair to say the third fastest in Australia’ history. So it was clearly an unusual period.
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Mr Moore attributed the almost unprecedented rise on record low interest rates.
“As economists we expect falling interest rates to raise house prices because people are able to borrow more money. But what was different about Covid was the fact we saw much faster growth in the regions than we did in capital cities. And that was really driven by the unprecedented experiment with working from home and working remotely.”
In January this four-bedroom house in Austral was sold for $1.067m, just above the suburb median. Over the two years since Covid prices in the area jumped by $132 per cent. Picture: Supplied
He added that NSW’s domination of the list is the result of a snowball effect of Sydney, and its surrounds, already coming from elevated price points before the boom.
“A big part of why we’ve seen such increases in places like Byron Bay and on the Central Coast is because we’ve seen people from Sydney who’ve had quite expensive dwellings there sell and buy in Byron Bay and the like for top dollar,” he said.
“They get more with their dollar than they would in terms of the number of bedrooms, or proximity to the beach, than in Sydney.”
“We’re also seeing that in places like Brisbane, if you’re shifting from Sydney or Melbourne, there’s more affordability.”
Mr Moore said the extraordinary growth in the regions witnessed in recent years would likely cool as the post-pandemic landscape returned to some kind of normality.
“We will start to see some of that unwind. Obviously, over the past two years we’ve seen a really big shift to the regions. But cities are opening again, people are in the office again – albeit part time – and that’s going to make living in the inner city more appealing as cafes, restaurants and sporting events get back to normal,” he said.
Wyee in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW saw a 142 per cent jump in prices between March 2020 and March 2022. This five-bedroom home fetched $870,000 in August last year. Picture: Supplied
Australia’s rampant home price growth slowed further in March, increasing by 0.34 per cent, the slowest pace of growth since May 2020, according to the PropTrack Home Price Index, an inaugural report released for the first time on March 31.
“Interest rates look set to rise later this year and that will be weighing on price growth already. Part of the reason we’re seeing price growth slow is expectations of increases in mortgage rates. And we’ve already seen fixed rates rise in anticipation of a higher cash rate.”
TOP GROWTH REGIONS (all states)
Wyee, NSW 142% $330,000 to $797,500
Austral, NSW 132% $439,400 to $1.018m
Byron Bay, NSW 114% $1.414m to $3.025m
Copacabana, NSW 106% $923,500 to $1.905m
North Avoca, NSW 104% $932,500 to $1.9m
Box Hill, NSW 94% $592,250 to $1.15m
Miama, QLD 93% $767,500 to $1.48m
Cumbalum, NSW 90% $620,000 to $1.175m
Sunrise Beach , QLD 89% $872,500 to $1.65m
Teralba NSW 88% $385,000 to $725,000
Glenorie, NSW 88% $1.278m to $2.402m
Sunshine Beach, QLD 86% $1.8m to $3.345m
Somers, VIC 85% $920,250 to $1.703m
Sylvania Waters, NSW 84% $1.6m to $2.95m
Charleville, QLD 82% $83,750 to $152,500
Casuarina, NSW 82% $1.167m to $2.125m
Wamberal, NSW 82% $980,000 to $1.78m
Hayfield, VIC 81% $197,500 to $358,000
Bulli, NSW 80% $1.02m to $1.84m
Callala Beach, NSW 80% $650,000 to $1.17m
Greta, NSW 80% $297,500 to $535,000
MacMasters Beach, NSW 80% $1.19m to $2.1375m
Kiama, NSW 80% $870,000 to $1.562m
Berry, NSW 79% $978,000 to $1.755m
East Brisbane, QLD 78% $765,000 to $1.365m