Property prices have surged as much as 30% in some suburbs over the past year as buyers flocked to affordable locations, while housing supply failed to keep up.
New data from PropTrack has revealed the top performing suburbs of 2023’s surprising property market recovery, and the hotspots in high demand that could be next to boom.
Housing markets bounced back from the rate rise-triggered downturn of 2022 quicker and stronger than expected, amid surging population growth driven by record immigration and a subdued listings environment.
Use the interactive below to see how your suburb has performed over the past year.
The data measured performance against several metrics, such as annual price growth, buyer demand and how quickly a listed property takes to sell.
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The types of suburbs where values surged the most differ depending on the situation in each state and city, as do the areas where properties sold quickest and where buyer demand has been most concentrated.
In cities where property prices are cheapest, affordable outer suburbs have experienced the strongest price growth, which PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said could be explained by worsening affordability across the country as both property prices and interest rates rose.
“When housing affordability is at its worst in at least 30 years, buyers are going to be trying to find ways to look for more affordable homes,” he said.
“More affordable suburbs did hold up better in 2022 as interest rates were rising, and that tailwind from strained affordability is still supporting some affordable parts of our cities.”
Where prices grew the most
The suburb where house prices grew fastest in 2023 was Greenfields in the Mandurah region on Perth’s southern fringe, where the median value jumped 29.6% to $427,000.
Affordable suburbs in Perth’s south east also surged in value, including Kelmscott (up 27.3%) and Maddington (up 26.8%).
![2/12 Arrowrock Retreat, Greenfields, WA 6210](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This four-bedroom Greenfields house sold for $423,000 in September, around the suburb's median house value. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
All of the best-performing suburbs in 2023 for both houses and units were in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, continuing the strength of property markets in these states seen last year.
“Perth and Adelaide have been really strong performing cities,” Mr Moore said.
“Part of the story is their relative affordability. They've not seen as much of a handbrake on prices from declining affordability, but they're also seeing demand from other states as people look for more affordable areas.”
In Queensland, suburbs in the Ipswich and Logan, Beaudesert regions such as Riverview (up 27.1%), Woodridge (up 25.4%) and Logan Central (up 24.3%) had the strongest house price growth.
House values in Woodridge in southern Brisbane jumped 25.4% over 2023. This four-bedroom renovated Woodridge house is on the market now. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Adelaide’s strongest performers were concentrated in the north, including Elizabeth North (up 28.2%), Davoren Park (up 26%) and Smithfield Plains (up 24.9%).
Despite values surging so much, all of the top 20 suburbs for house price growth still have a median house value below $550,000, putting them on the radar of both first-home buyers and investors with restricted budgets.
On the other hand, in the most expensive capitals, pricier suburbs have led the market higher.
“In 2023 we did see some rebound in more expensive suburbs,” Mr Moore said. “Parts of Sydney prices rebounded quite quickly as prices started coming back up.”
“The general trend we see in price cycles is when prices are falling, more expensive areas tend to, on average, see larger falls.
“On the flipside, when prices are rising more expensive areas tend to see a larger upswing.”
A 19.3% jump in house values over 2023 pushed the median house price in ultra-exclusive Vaucluse to $9.68 million. That kind of budget would have afforded this four-bedroom mansion with harbour views that sold for $9 million in September. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
“That has been more or less the case in the recovery in Sydney in 2023. Places like the east, the northern beaches and the north shore have seen reasonably good growth.”
In Vaucluse, Sydney’s most expensive suburb with a median house value of $9.68 million, values jumped 19.3% over 2023. That means the value of a typical Vaucluse home increased by almost $1.6 million — more than a typical Sydney home is worth — in just a year.
The only NSW suburb that outpaced that growth rate was Kariong on the Central Coast, where prices jumped 22.9% to $934,000 – well below Sydney’s median house value of $1.368 million. It was also the only suburb outside Western Australia, South Australia or Queensland to record price growth above 20%.
The strongest performers in Melbourne were in the city’s east, with values rising by 7.4% in Balwyn, 6.7% in Wheelers Hill and 6.4% in Vermont South.
Balwyn, in Melbourne's east, is one of the city's priciest suburbs and also one of its best performers in 2023, with house values rising 7.4%. This three-bedroom Balwyn house sold for $2,105,000 in December. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
In Canberra, the strongest growth was in some of the most expensive suburbs, including Yaralumla (up 9.2%), Campbell (up 5.2%) and Red Hill (up 4.1%).
While the growth rates in the best performing suburbs of Melbourne and Canberra were more modest than in other capitals, these suburbs outperformed their wider cities, which remained fairly flat over the year.
“Melbourne hasn't regained that pre-rate rise level yet,” Mr Moore said. “We just haven't seen as strong a rebound as we have in Sydney and Brisbane.”
While many pricey suburbs experienced strong growth, especially for units, it’s not just suburbs at the absolute top of the market that boomed last year.
Many well-located suburbs with large homes suited to upgrading families, such as Ashbury in Sydney's inner west, jumped in value in 2023. This five-bedroom Ashbury property sold for $2.38m in November. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
In Sydney, suburbs in the inner west and inner south west with median house values around $1.5 to $2 million dominated the list of top performers, including Ashbury (up 16.6%) Belfield (up 16.1%) and Canterbury (up 15%).
Price growth in Ashbury was driven by local upgraders seeking bigger properties, according to real estate agent Marco Errichiello of Rich & Oliva.
"People buying in Ashbury are coming from areas like Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Petersham," he said. "They like the feel of those suburbs but they're not getting the space."
"The buyers coming in from that pocket are looking for larger land sizes, quality streets and they don't want to be around development."
With limited homes coming onto the market in Ashbury, demand was spilling over into neighbouring suburbs, Mr Errichiello said.
"Ashbury is expensive so the next best suburb is Canterbury," he said. "Strathfield has become very expensive – a luxury home there will cost $7 to 10 million whereas you can get a luxury home in Belfield for $2.5 million."
Relative affordability has helped drive price growth even for multi-million dollar homes. This Belfield property recently sold for $2.425 million. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Price growth in the inner and middle-ring city suburbs may have been fuelled by renewed interest in areas with large family homes and relatively short commutes to the CBD, Mr Moore said.
"Inner city areas, particularly in Melbourne, didn’t see as much of a run-up in prices as places like the Central Coast or Northern Beaches," he said. "That might make them a bit more attractive perhaps today than was the case two years ago."
Many upgrading homeowners have capitalised on gains made during the pandemic, Mr Moore said, which has contributed to the resilience of housing markets despite significant interest rate rises.
"We saw enormous price growth across the pandemic so there’s a lot of people sitting on a lot of equity," he said. "We have seen an increase in the share of buyers that are borrowing with low loan-to-value ratios."
"Credit constraints have become a lot tighter, but if there are a whole lot of buyers for whom credit constraints are not binding, that may matter less."
Where buyer demand is highest
Across the capitals, inner suburbs were some of the most in-demand across 2023, the data shows.
Measuring the number of times properties are saved by property seekers on realestate.com.au reveals that properties in some inner suburbs, particularly units, are saved up to three times as much as the average Australian property.
Mr Moore said this reflects the fact that these were very popular markets with a lot of people searching for properties relative to the number of homes available.
"Even though they are quite liquid markets, because you also often have a lot of homes available in dense inner city areas, there’s probably just a lot of people looking," he said.
"That drives a lot of demand in these areas, which is why we see these are quite actively looked at and saved areas."
When it comes to units, suburbs in Melbourne’s south and east were among the most in-demand in Australia, including Brighton East, Heidelberg West and Bentleigh East.
Units in Brighton East, like this two-bedroom townhouse, are saved by property seekers three times more than the national average. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Inner-city Marrickville, Alexandria and Petersham topped the list of the most in-demand Sydney suburbs for unit buyers, while Greenslopes, Norman Park and Camp Hill were most popular in Brisbane.
However, suburbs with the most property saves for houses are largely found outside the capitals, with the Gold Coast dominating the list of in-demand suburbs.
Houses in Palm Beach were saved 3.5 times as much as the national average, with similarly strong interest in Tallebudgera Valley, Miami, Labrador, Burleigh Heads and Currumbin.
Houses in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast are saved 3.5 times as much as the national average. This newly-built four-bedroom Palm Beach house is listed for sale for offers over $2,999,000.
Homes on the southern stretch of the Gold Coast have been in high demand with both locals and interstate buyers seeking a coastal escape, according to real estate agent Tracy Tomars of LJ Hooker Property Hub.
"The southern end of the Gold Coast is the most sought after," she told realestate.com.au.
"We get a lot of locals that are downsizing from big properties, but there’s still a lot of Melbourne and Brisbane buyers. We’re actually seeing a lot of New Zealand buyers relocate from over there too."
The close proximity of the Gold Coast airport plays a part, Ms Tomars said. "I sell to a lot of people from Melbourne who live here for six months of the year, and it just makes it easier for them."
Interest has also spilled south of the border, with the northern NSW suburbs of Tweed Heads West, Tweed Heads South and Tweed Heads outranking long-time favourites like Newtown, Vaucluse and Baulkham Hills as the state’s most in-demand suburbs with house-hunters.
Leafy suburbs on the fringes of capitals offering large homes on big blocks were also in high-demand, including Belgrave in Melbourne, Stirling in Adelaide and Darlington in Perth.
The suburbs where homes sell the fastest
A look at the suburbs where houses sold fastest last year highlights the importance buyers placed on affordability in 2023.
Affordable suburbs on Perth’s fringes, such as Hillman, Henley Brook, Kiara and Seville Grove, recorded the lowest median days on market in the country, with half of all properties listed for sale selling within eight days.
This three-bedroom Hillman house sold for $538,000 in September, just two days after being listed for sale. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Properties sell just as fast in Bow Bowing, in Sydney’s outer south west, and Rosny in Tasmania, which occupies a prime position across the Derwent River from the Hobart CBD.
Mr Moore said days on market tends to be low where choice is limited and many buyers were competing for a limited number of properties.
"When we see properties sell that quickly, it indicates pretty competitive market conditions," he said.
The very low days on market in suburbs of Perth reflected the city’s extremely tight market, with homes still selling faster than during the pandemic amid record low stock levels, Mr Moore said.
All of Sydney’s 10 fastest-selling suburbs for houses are found in the west, mostly in the Macarthur and Penrith regions, where homes tend to be more affordable than the rest of the city.
The 10 fastest-selling Sydney suburbs for units are relatively affordable compared to the citywide median, and are more than 17km from the CBD, with the exception of pricey Queenscliff on the Northern Beaches, the one outlier on the list.
It took just nine days to sell this leafy property in Tecoma, Victoria's fastest selling suburb for houses in 2023. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Melbourne’s fastest selling suburbs for both houses and units were all found in the outer east, north east and south east, including Tecoma, Belgrave Heights and Croydon South for houses and Langwarrin, Heathmont and Greensborough for units.
In Queensland, houses sell rapidly in the Toowoomba suburbs of Rockville and Cranley, as well as Brinsmead and Kamerunga in Cairns and Svensson Heights in Bundaberg.
Units sell quickly in Slacks Creek, Holland Park West and Hillcrest in Brisbane, as well as Freshwater and Manoora in Cairns and Avenell Heights in Bundaberg.
While days on market aren’t the only factor affecting price growth in a suburb, the competitive conditions in affordable areas reflect intense competition to secure a home, Mr Moore said, putting upward pressure on prices.
"It's certainly a good indicator for where the balance in market dynamics is playing out in terms of availability of homes to buy, how many buyers are looking and therefore how quickly buyers are having to move to buy them," he said.