Add CategoryA handful of housing hotspots around the country recorded huge price jumps this year, and there’s one thing that most of these suburbs have in common.
Property prices are now about 5.5% higher than a year ago at the national level, but prices in some booming suburbs have jumped up to 10 times as fast over the same period, PropTrack data shows.
Australia’s top growth suburb in 2024 was Elizabeth South, in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, where the median house price soared by almost 57% in the past year.
Despite this huge jump in prices, homes in the suburb remain affordable, with a median sale price of $470,000 making houses accessible for both first-home buyers and budget-focused investors.
Affordability was a common thread among the top performers this year, with the majority of top 10 suburbs with the fastest price growth for both houses and units having median sale prices under $600,000.
Top 10 suburbs for house price growth in 2024
| Suburb | State | Region (SA4) | Median sale price | YoY change (%) | |
| 1 | Elizabeth South | SA | Adelaide - North | $470,000 | 56.7% |
| 2 | South Brighton | SA | Adelaide - South | $1,345,000 | 52.0% |
| 3 | Rockhampton City | QLD | Central Queensland | $345,000 | 50.0% |
| 4 | Wagin | WA | Western Australia - Wheat Belt | $272,000 | 49.3% |
| 5 | Bonville | NSW | Coffs Harbour - Grafton | $1,358,000 | 46.8% |
| 6 | Millmerran | QLD | Darling Downs - Maranoa | $365,000 | 46.0% |
| 7 | Byron Bay | NSW | Richmond - Tweed | $3,500,000 | 45.5% |
| 8 | Port Denison | WA | Western Australia - Outback (South) | $500,000 | 44.9% |
| 9 | Hillman | WA | Perth - South West | $600,000 | 44.8% |
| 10 | Camillo | WA | Perth - South East | $546,000 | 44.6% |
Buyers have honed in on affordable hotspots in recent years, with high interest rates limiting borrowing capacities and leading to increased competition in suburbs where prices are still within reach.
Perth and Adelaide, the two strongest capital city housing markets for the past few years, dominated the lists, with affordable outer suburbs recording the most rapid increases.
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The northern Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth South recorded the fastest house price increase of all Australian suburbs in 2024. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said the strength of housing markets in Perth and Adelaide over the past year had contributed to the outperformance of affordable suburbs in these cities.
"Over the year to November, prices in Adelaide are up nearly 15%, and nearly 19% in Perth, which is very strong," he said. "In that environment, we'd expect to see some suburbs performing even better."
"Part of the story for why these cities, and the more affordable parts of these cities, have performed so well comes down to relative affordability. "
"Housing affordability is at its worst level in at least three decades at the moment. In that environment, some buyers will be looking to more affordable areas and suburbs."
"And while Adelaide and Perth have gotten a lot more expensive in the past few years, they do remain more affordable than other capitals – particularly Perth."
In Perth, outer suburbs like Hillman and Camillo recorded house price increases of more than 40%, while units in Kelmscott jumped by more than 50%.
Prices in Hillman in Perth's south west rose almost 45% compared to last year, but the suburbs median house price is still just $600,000. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
These suburbs have been targeted by local buyers and interstate investors alike, with a spike in demand resulting in homes selling rapidly above asking price.
But while affordable hotspots have tended to have the strongest growth, many suburbs that made the list were far from cheap. In fact, some coastal and inner-city suburbs with strong growth had multi-million dollar price tags.
The beachside Adelaide suburb of South Brighton had the nation’s second highest growth rate for houses, with prices rising 52% to a median of $1.345 million.
Buyers seeking relatively affordable coastal properties in Adelaide have targeted South Brighton, pushing up prices. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Local real estate agent and Noakes Nickolas director Simon Noakes said high prices in nearby coastal suburbs meant buyers were expanding their searches to neighbouring suburbs offering better value.
“There's affordability constraints in some of the other coastal suburbs like Glenelg, Somerton Park and Brighton,” he said.
“Proximity wise, South Brighton has been the next suburb that still has some relatively affordable properties,” he said.
Somerton Park had the fifth highest growth for units after price lifted 44% to $680,000.
Byron Bay is back in favour with buyers, with prices surging again after a soft few years. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Meanwhile, sea change favourite Byron Bay was the seventh strongest suburb for houses, with prices rising about 45% to $3.5 million.
Values in the northern NSW town have fluctuated wildly over the past few years, with the pandemic and then interest rate hikes causing prices to rise and fall, before another boom kicked in this year.
Top 10 suburbs for unit price growth in 2024
| Suburb | State | Region (SA4) | Median sale price | YoY change (%) | |
| 1 | Little Bay | NSW | Sydney - Eastern Suburbs | 53.7% | $1,356,000 |
| 2 | Kelmscott | WA | Perth - South East | 51.6% | $470,000 |
| 3 | Harristown | QLD | Toowoomba | 49.6% | $380,000 |
| 4 | Doubleview | WA | Perth - North West | 44.1% | $595,000 |
| 5 | Somerton Park | SA | Adelaide - South | 44.0% | $680,000 |
| 6 | Coolbellup | WA | Perth - South West | 42.9% | $500,000 |
| 7 | Dudley Park | WA | Mandurah | 42.9% | $440,000 |
| 8 | Orelia | WA | Perth - South West | 42.0% | $288,000 |
| 9 | Woodridge | QLD | Logan - Beaudesert | 41.3% | $368,000 |
| 10 | Shoalwater | WA | Perth - South West | 39.2% | $355,000 |
Despite these ups and downs, it’s still the strongest performing Australian suburb over the past 10 years, rising at an average rate of 15% per year.
The nation’s top growth suburb for units was Little Bay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where prices went up almost 54%.
Unit prices have exploded in Little Bay in the past year as more buyers have discovered the coastal hotspot. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
A year ago, the suburb’s median sale price was less than $900,000, but a typical apartment there now costs about $1.36 million.
Local real estate agent Steve Ausling of NG Farah said unit prices in Little Bay boomed as buyers seeking coastal properties fanned further out from Sydney’s more well-known eastern suburbs such as Bondi or Coogee.
“We’ve remained a bit of a local secret,” he said. “It’s safe, it's easy, it's fun, and you’ll always have a nice sea breeze.”
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He said the fact that unit development had been relatively constrained helped support price growth.
“There's been no supply added to the area," he said. "If you want it and you see value, you have to pay a premium.”
For houses, Sydney’s top growth suburb was the newly developed suburb of Gables on the northwest fringe, where prices jumped about 39% to $1.49 million.
Other standout suburbs in the greater Sydney region included the central coast suburbs of Davistown (up 32.5%), Empire Bay (up 27.1%) and Forresters Beach (up 25.6%).
Meanwhile, house prices jumped almost 31% in Wiley Park and about 25% in Berala, while unit prices went up about 29% in Elizabeth Bay and 27% in Punchbowl.
Affluent Middle Park in Melbourne's south defied the city's lacklustre performance in 2024, with the suburb's median sale price rising 18.5% over the year. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Greater Melbourne’s top growth suburb was Tyabb on the Mornington Peninsula, where house prices rose 26.3% increase, followed by Middle Park, Hawthorn East and Ivanhoe, which each recorded a 18.5% increase in prices.
For units, Ashwood (up 23.8%), St Kilda West (up 20%) and Carlton (up 19.8%) topped the list.
In Brisbane, house prices in Virginia rose almost 39% to about $1.23 million, followed by Macgregor where prices rose 34% to about $1.36 million.
This newly constructed house in Virginia in Brisbane's north sold for $1.755 million in October. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Five of Brisbane's top 10 suburbs for unit price growth were in the Logan region, including Woodridge, where prices rose 41.3% to $368,000, and Kingston, where the median reached $446,000 after a 39% increase over the past 12 months.