The COVID-induced desire for beachside living and lifestyle properties has driven the top-performing suburbs during Australia's 2021 housing market boom.
Demand for more space and a regional exodus from cities amid a shift to remote working are also evident in PropTrack's preparation of a property report card, showing the most in-demand suburbs and those leading the surge in prices.
Use the interactive below to see how well your suburb has performed.
PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said 2021 was an exceptional year for the housing market.
"Strong demand, a low supply of properties for sale and low interest rates combined to drive the fastest pace of price growth in more than three decades," Ms Creagh said.
"It was a really unprecedented property boom as people saved more, household wealth surged to an all-time high and government support measures propped up the economy and household balance sheets."
Ms Creagh said people spending more time at home during during the pandemic sparked a reassessment of housing needs, which was a major factor in property price growth.
"One of the real driving forces is this ongoing reassessment of lifestyle wants and housing needs, and lifestyle really becoming a higher priority for many with people looking for larger homes, more space and beachside living."
The COVID trend of people seeking a sea or tree change continued during 2021, as remote working gave more choice about where to live.
"In 2021, regional housing markets outperformed capital cities in terms of price growth," Ms Creagh said.
"We saw huge increases in people looking for properties in regional Australia, while many made that sea or tree change to regional areas or more lifestyle-oriented coastal beach towns.
"That was alongside increased demand for larger homes as well, with people potentially looking to take advantage of the relative affordability that many regional housing markets provide."
There was also a lot of interest in houses over units, Ms Creagh said.
PropTrack data showed house price growth of 26.8% nationally in 2021, outstripping the 13.4% growth in unit prices.
"In 2022, we can expect that prices are likely to continue to grow but the pace of price growth is set to slow markedly from the record-breaking speeds that we saw in 2021," Ms Creagh said.
"That being said, at least for the first quarter of this year, conditions are likely to remain pretty solid. Prices are likely to still grow, though at a slower pace."
![Sunrise at Kawana Beach on the Gold Coast](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The demand for beachside living continued during 2021. Picture: Getty
Coastal suburbs lead price surge
Beachside suburbs, particularly on the New South Wales South Coast and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, dominated the top 10 suburbs nationally with the biggest growth in average estimated value in 2021.
Ms Creagh said beachside property outperformed in terms of price growth last year.
"People have prioritised beachside living throughout 2021. There's also been heightened demand for second homes with international borders closed.
"But one of the biggest overarching factors is likely to be the low supply of properties for sale.
"That's led to people having to make quick decisions when a property is listed but also in many cases paying over the odds for that property because of the intense levels of competition."
The NSW South Coast town of Manyana had the highest growth nationally, with a 77% increase in estimated valuation to $991,300, according to PropTrack data.
Ben Pryde, principal Raine & Horne - Mollymook/Milton, said many buyers wanted a weekender on the NSW South Coast to enjoy while they couldn't travel overseas and as interstate travel was limited.
"They're going back to that nostalgic idea of what we were used to as kids, growing up with a weekender that everybody called a home away from home," Mr Pryde said.
"A lot of the people who could work from home have relocated down here – they're doing three or four days a week here and occasionally going back to Sydney."
Mr Pryde said Manyana had stunning beaches and beautiful old holiday shacks, as well as contemporary homes, which sawe a "phenomenal jump" in value in the last two years.
"It feels like you're in another world away from the city. It's a place that people go to escape."
Demand and prices in beachside suburbs like Mollymook Beach on the NSW South Coast have soared during the pandemic. Picture: Getty
Mr Pryde said buyers were also attracted to the more cosmopolitan feel of Mollymook and the adjacent Mollymook Beach, as well as other coastal spots.
"There are all these places where people have holidayed for years. All of a sudden they had to get their hands on something and it's really seen the prices being driven so far north."
Mollymook Beach came in 10th nationally for price growth, with a 63% increase in average estimated valuation to $1.249 million.
A beachfront home in Mollymook purchased for $2.36 million in 2016 sold in October for $10 million. Mr Pryde said it was a unique coastal property, being a large, north-facing block in a quiet cove with amazing views and direct beach access.
This beachfront Mollymook home, bought for $2.36 million in 2016, sold for $10 million in 2021. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
The local market was still strong, Mr Pryde said, although demand had eased from a few months ago.
"There is still a whole range of new people coming down every weekend on their hunt for a beachside home, whether it be to relocate or for a home away from home weekender.
"That typical beachside house is a little bit hard to come by and you've got to be prepared to dig pretty deep in your pocket to get it these days."
On the Sunshine Coast, Sunrise Beach had a 73% jump in average estimated value for houses to $1.739 million in 2021 while Warana and Peregian Beach also featured in the national top 10.
The region was one of the commutable lifestyle locations that experienced strong demand during the regional housing boom.
Ms Creagh said the Sunshine Coast, and southeast Queensland broadly, retained a relative affordability advantage compared to Sydney or Melbourne.
"We've also seen a low supply of properties for sale which has contributed, alongside the increased demand that we've seen with a lot of interstate migration, to values surging in southeast Queensland and particularly the Sunshine Coast," she said.
Queenstown, the largest town in Tasmania's west, recorded 72% growth but its average estimated value was only $184,840.
The national top 10 for growth in unit prices also revealed the desire for beachside lifestyle suburbs, headed by the Victorian town of Lorne with a 64% increase to $1.229 million.
Ms Creagh said the unit price growth in second-placed Suffolk Park in NSW (up 62% to $1.367 million) potentially showed a spillover effect from Byron Bay.
"Property prices have surged significantly in Byron Bay and potentially you've seen people looking for value in the surrounding regions."
The mining town of Port Hedland and satellite town of South Hedland in Western Australia's Pilbara region also recorded strong unit price growth in 2021.
"We've certainly seen the strength in mining has contributed to large price increases in mining towns," Ms Creagh said.
The change in property values in 2021 has been illustrated by growth in automated valuation model (AVM) estimates, which is a statistically-derived estimate of current property values.
COVID driving the most in-demand suburbs
The most popular suburbs for serious house buyers in 2021 reflected the desire for beachside living or more space in outer metropolitan suburbs.
Berwick, 41km southeast of the Melbourne CBD, topped the national list with 50,782 highly-engaged buyers - someone who is close to making a purchase, based on their activity on realestate.com.au.
Ray White Berwick director Debbie Brettoner said COVID changes had played a big role in driving the huge demand for homes in the suburb, which she said was now very cosmopolitan but retained its village feel.
"I've seen Berwick hot but I've never seen it in such demand," Ms Brettoner said.
Buyers were attracted to Berwick's schools, infrastructure, hospital, neighbourhood shopping centres and walking tracks, particularly now that many people no longer faced a daily commute to the CBD for work from the leafy suburb.
Ms Brettoner said the local market remained hot in early 2022, with strong demand and competition for a limited number of houses for sale.
"We had 44 groups at some open houses on the weekend," she said.
Berwick's house prices used to range from the $600,000s up to $2 million, she said, adding: "Now we go from the $600,000s to $12 million."
Houses in the outer Melbourne suburb of Berwick are in hot demand from serious buyers. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
The Sunshine Coast urban centre of Buderim was the second most in-demand suburb for houses nationally, with 43,321 highly-engaged buyers in 2021.
Ms Creagh noted many of the places on the in-demand lists were larger suburbs in terms of the number of dwellings, with the likes of Sydney's Kellyville and Melbourne's Pakenham, plus Berwick, being major development areas.
The Gold Coast suburbs of Coomera and Helensvale also made the national top 10, along with Frankston and Mornington in Melbourne.
There has been strong demand from serious buyers for houses in Gold Coast suburbs like Coomera. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
"The Gold Coast is popular with first homebuyers and investors, as well as owner-occupier buyers, so that's contributing to the increased demand," Ms Creagh said.
"The Mornington Peninsula would fit into one of those lifestyle destinations that's been popular during the pandemic with people craving the change in lifestyle that's been enabled by the ability to work more flexibly."
Inner-city suburbs still appealed to serious buyers of units, with inner-Melbourne locations dominating the national list.
"We know that the Melbourne inner-city market has not performed as well as other markets and potentially people are looking to take advantage of that," Ms Creagh said.
She said it was no surprise to see increased demand for units in places like Surfers Paradise, given its large number of high-density, high-rise apartment blocks.
When it came to the biggest growth in demand from highly-engaged buyers during 2021, Queensland suburbs made up most of the national top 10 houses list.
Queensland's Logan Reserve and the outer-Melbourne development suburb of Mount Cottrell topped the list with 122% growth.
Ms Creagh noted Queensland had experienced high levels of net migration during the pandemic, with residents from NSW and Victoria heading north at a record rate.
"Queensland fits in the lifestyle demand in terms of beachside living and scenic coastlines, but there is also a relative affordability advantage. It also fits into the demand for more space and larger blocks."
More broadly, she noted demand had increased for development suburbs.
"There's been a lower supply of established dwellings for sale and that's meant that people have shifted to the new homes market or development estates."
Hobart and Brisbane suburbs among the fastest selling
Properties were selling at record speeds throughout most of 2021, Ms Creagh noted.
She said Tasmania stood out in terms of where properties were selling the fastest around Australia, amid a low supply of listings.
"When there's not many options for buyers to choose from, when a home comes to market buyers typically have to move very quickly.
"That's why we see in places where there is a constrained supply of properties for sale median days on market really declining to just over a week in some of those fastest-selling suburbs."
Tasmanian suburbs, particularly in Hobart, dominated the national list of suburbs with the shortest median days on market during 2021.
In equal top spot, with houses selling in a median time of only eight days, were the northern Brisbane suburb of Bald Hills and Hobart's New Town and North Hobart.
Brisbane's Drewvale and Arana Hills, plus the Hobart suburbs of Chigwell, Howrah and Lenah Valley, had a median of nine days.
The title of NSW's fastest-selling suburb was shared by outer Sydney's Camden South, Glenmore Park, Kings Park and Raby, plus the Central Coast's Lake Haven - all with a median of 10 days on the market.
Cockatoo, Millgrove and Upwey in outer Melbourne were the fastest-selling in Victoria with a median of 10 days.