In 2015, just hearing $1 million made home buyers flinch. Fast forward to 2025, and that’s the median house price in over 1,000 Australian suburbs. Here's how that happened and what it means for anyone looking to buy home in Australia today.
Ten years ago, million-dollar homes were a rare sight. According to PropTrack data, only 273 suburbs in all of Australia had a median house price over $1 million in 2015. But now? That number has exploded to 1,073 suburbs, an increase of 800 in just one decade.
Back then, the median house price in NSW was just $550,000. In South Australia, it was around $368,000, and in Tasmania, homes hovered at just $280,000. It’s no wonder people could still find gems under $450,000 in coastal or regional areas.
Fast forward to 2025, and many of those same suburbs are now card-carrying members of the Million-Dollar Club.
Tweed Heads West, located in New South Wales, has joined the million-dollar property club over the past decade. (Source: realestate.com.au)
Coastal boomtowns: where beachfront bargains became luxury assets
Take Tweed Heads West (NSW), for example. A decade ago, the median home there cost just $398,500. Today? You’ll need over $1.04 million, which is a 161% increase.
Or Sunrise Beach (QLD), where prices rocketed from $580,000 to $2.01 million, and Noosa Heads, from $690,000 to $2.225 million.
Suburbs like Broulee, Pomona, and Bright once considered affordable havens have also seen house prices double or even triple, driven by sea-changers and regional migration during the pandemic years.
Suburbs with more than 200% growth were almost all coastal regional areas, reinforcing that Australians really, really love the beach.
Victoria’s rise: the quiet power of the regions
When looking at Victoria, the trend is equally striking especially for those who want to buy home in Victorian towns with growth potential.
Places like:
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Bright: $352,000 → $1,030,000 (+193%)
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Bittern: $430,000 → $1,085,000
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Manifold Heights (Geelong): $507,000 → $1,260,000
Meanwhile, Melbourne's ultra-premium suburb Toorak actually dropped out of the national top 10 most expensive suburbs, with others like Deepdene also sliding down the list.
Bright, VIC homes now average $1.03M—362 Montgomery Lane is listed at $3.75M.
The new national luxury leaders: NSW dominates
If you’re wondering where the most expensive suburbs in Australia in 2025, NSW will take the crown. Nine out of the ten top spots are now in Sydney and surrounding areas.
The suburb of Bellevue Hill now boasts a median price of $9.165 million (up from $3.3M in 2015), while Vaucluse, Rose Bay, and Bronte have all crossed the $5 million threshold.
Fun fact: Only three suburbs had $3M+ medians in 2015. Today, more than 200 suburbs have crossed the $2M line.
WA, SA & ACT: quiet achievers catching up
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Western Australia now has 56 new million-dollar suburbs, including inland areas once considered far from "premium."
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South Australia went from just two $1M+ suburbs to 73 in 2025.
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In the ACT, the number rose from 2 in 2015 to 34 today.
Only the Northern Territory still has no suburbs in the million-dollar club.
As of May 2025, Bellevue Hill, NSW is Australia's priciest suburb.
What this means for buyers & investors
If you’re looking to buy home in Australia now, especially in regional or fringe suburbs, history shows the next million-dollar suburbs might be hiding in plain sight.
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Look for areas with strong infrastructure pipelines, sea or tree change potential, and historic underperformance.
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For investors, the 2015-2025 data proves regional and coastal areas have gone from “affordable” to “aspirational” in just one cycle.
And if you already own in one of these skyrocketing suburbs? Congratulations! you’re officially sitting on a seven-figure slice of Australia’s real estate boom.
