Property values in Australia’s capitals have grown faster than in the regions for the past year, but prices in a handful of regional cities have surged ahead.
Analysis of property prices in Australia’s 30 largest regional cities has revealed a handful of places where prices are growing as fast, if not faster than the strongest capital city markets.
There are 13 regional cities across Australia where median house values have grown more than the 7.66% growth recorded across the combined capitals over the past year, and 12 regional cities where unit prices grew more than the 5.22% lift recorded in the capitals.
Most of Australia’s booming regional cities are found in Western Australia and Queensland – two of the strongest regional markets over the past year.
The data shows that Perth isn’t the only Australian city where values have grown by more than 20%, with prices rising by more than that in a few other large regional Western Australian cities, including Bunbury for houses and Busselton for units.
Busselton was one of Australia’s strongest regional markets over the past year, with unit prices rising 24% and house prices rising 17%. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
All the largest regional Queensland cities recorded annual house price growth above 10%, except the Sunshine Coast where prices grew by about 8%. Unit price growth across those cities was almost as strong.
In NSW, Tamworth was the only regional city where price growth outpaced the state capital Sydney, with house prices in the northern NSW inland city growing by more than 10%.
House and unit price growth was flat or a little slower than Sydney in the rest of the largest regional NSW cities.
How house prices have changed in Australia’s largest regional cities
| Local government area (LGA) | State | Median value (AVM) | YoY change (%) | |
| 1 | Bunbury | WA | $478,290 | 21% |
| 2 | Townsville | QLD | $484,265 | 18% |
| 3 | Rockhampton | QLD | $443,874 | 17% |
| 4 | Busselton | WA | $780,840 | 17% |
| 5 | Bundaberg | QLD | $520,002 | 17% |
| 6 | Gold Coast | QLD | $1,065,918 | 16% |
| 7 | Toowoomba | QLD | $595,549 | 14% |
| 8 | Gladstone | QLD | $458,973 | 12% |
| 9 | Cairns | QLD | $609,432 | 12% |
| 10 | Mackay | QLD | $502,671 | 12% |
| 11 | Tamworth | NSW | $518,864 | 10% |
| 12 | Fraser Coast | QLD | $619,440 | 10% |
| 13 | Sunshine Coast | QLD | $999,406 | 8% |
| 14 | Wagga Wagga | NSW | $591,060 | 6% |
| 15 | Newcastle | NSW | $859,147 | 5% |
| 16 | Geraldton | WA | $423,857 | 5% |
| 17 | Shepparton | VIC | $487,324 | 4% |
| 18 | Albury | NSW | $569,568 | 4% |
| 19 | Wollongong | NSW | $971,797 | 3% |
| 20 | Port Macquarie-Hastings | NSW | $835,447 | 2% |
| 21 | Mildura | VIC | $443,714 | 2% |
| 22 | Dubbo | NSW | $532,845 | 2% |
| 23 | Ballina | NSW | $1,026,604 | 1% |
| 24 | Orange | NSW | $701,908 | 0% |
| 25 | Coffs Harbour | NSW | $829,577 | 0% |
| 26 | Bendigo | VIC | $547,841 | 0% |
| 27 | Wodonga | VIC | $524,914 | 0% |
| 28 | Launceston | TAS | $528,188 | -1% |
| 29 | Geelong | VIC | $682,830 | -2% |
| 30 | Ballarat | VIC | $533,987 | -3% |
The data uses PropTrack‘s automated valuation model (AVM) to determine the median property value for each local government area (LGA).
Prices rose in most regional cities over the year, but did fall in a handful of areas, mostly in regional Victoria, where values declined by about 1% overall over the past year.
Victoria and the Northern Territory were the only states where values in regional markets have declined over the past year, according to the latest PropTrack Home Price Index.
Prices in regional areas have outperformed the cities since the pandemic, when lockdowns prompted many city-dwellers to make lifestyle changes and relocate to the regions, driving up demand and contributing to strong price growth.
But while large numbers of people are still moving away from cities to regional areas, the trend eased a little in recent years as society normalised, workers returned to offices and overseas migration resumed.
How unit prices have changed in Australia’s largest regional cities
| Local government area (LGA) | State | Median value (AVM) | YoY change (%) | |
| 1 | Busselton | WA | $574,809 | 24% |
| 2 | Bunbury | WA | $410,349 | 20% |
| 3 | Toowoomba | QLD | $448,470 | 17% |
| 4 | Gold Coast | QLD | $736,019 | 17% |
| 5 | Cairns | QLD | $363,671 | 14% |
| 6 | Gladstone | QLD | $284,603 | 13% |
| 7 | Bundaberg | QLD | $374,548 | 13% |
| 8 | Townsville | QLD | $316,775 | 12% |
| 9 | Rockhampton | QLD | $341,816 | 10% |
| 10 | Mackay | QLD | $323,163 | 9% |
| 11 | Sunshine Coast | QLD | $720,659 | 8% |
| 12 | Fraser Coast | QLD | $465,264 | 7% |
| 13 | Wagga Wagga | NSW | $413,616 | 5% |
| 14 | Albury | NSW | $340,159 | 4% |
| 15 | Wodonga | VIC | $362,492 | 4% |
| 16 | Tamworth Regional | NSW | $356,018 | 4% |
| 17 | Wollongong | NSW | $713,389 | 4% |
| 18 | Greater Shepparton | VIC | $344,129 | 3% |
| 19 | Newcastle | NSW | $678,462 | 3% |
| 20 | Port Macquarie-Hastings | NSW | $580,514 | 2% |
| 21 | Orange | NSW | $483,890 | 2% |
| 22 | Dubbo Regional | NSW | $346,655 | 2% |
| 23 | Launceston | TAS | $417,811 | 1% |
| 24 | Ballina | NSW | $698,608 | 0% |
| 25 | Coffs Harbour | NSW | $561,064 | 0% |
| 26 | Greater Geraldton | WA | $262,336 | -1% |
| 27 | Greater Bendigo | VIC | $394,867 | -1% |
| 28 | Mildura | VIC | $299,983 | -2% |
| 29 | Greater Geelong | VIC | $522,203 | -2% |
| 30 | Ballarat | VIC | $381,768 | -5% |
PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan said the data shows similar trends across large regional cities, albeit at different stages in the property cycle.
“We have seen regional property prices increase 55% since the onset of the pandemic,” he said.
“Regional NSW and Victoria saw value uplifts early on in 2020 and have increased 53% and 40% respectively in total, but much of the revaluation occurred prior to the past year.”
“In WA, we saw markets respond to the same pandemic trends at a much later time – after lockdowns ended.
“So there has been a bit of catch-up, with values still growing strongly over the past year, but total prices up 60% since the pandemic – similar to the national average.”
Prices boom in regional WA and QLD
Bunbury, about two hours south of Perth, and Busselton, about 45 minutes further south, had the strongest growth of the major regional cities.
In Bunbury, house prices increased about 21% while unit values rose about 20% in the past year. In Busselton, house prices jumped about 17% while unit values increased by 24%.
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Mr Ryan said these cities had similar attributes to other locations outside the capitals where prices have surged, including a coastal position, a commutable distance to Perth, and typically more affordable property prices.
“Bunbury has seen the strongest growth of any WA region, and fits the mould of other regions that have done well,” he said.
Meanwhile, house prices jumped more than 17% in the coastal Queensland cities of Townsville, Rockhampton and Bundaberg. Unit prices grew at about the same rate in Toowoomba and the Gold Coast.
Townsville real estate agent Jake Austin of Ray White Townsville said a surge in investor activity was a major driving factor behind the jump in prices.
“Our investor market has definitely increased as people have clued in,” he said.
“The rental yield you can get on your normal median-priced house in Townsville is phenomenal.”
“If you buy a house for $400,000, you can likely rent it at $500 to $550 a week, which gives you a very attractive yield after expenses.”
Prices for both units and houses on the Sunshine Coast rose by about 8%, which was among the smallest increases of all the large regional Queensland cities.
However, this comes after several years of exceptionally strong growth since the pandemic, with prices doubling in some Sunshine Coast suburbs in the past four years.
With house and unit price growth of about 8%, the Sunshine Coast had the slowest growth of the largest regional Queensland cities. Picture: Getty
Sunshine Coast real estate agent and McGrath Buderim and Mooloolaba principal Damien Michael said market conditions in the area had eased recently.
“We’re finding that there’s one particular price band that still has a large volume of buyers and that’s the $800,000 to $1.4 million range,” he said. “You’re still getting 20 or 30 groups through open homes.”
“The other ends of the market, the $2 million plus and even the lower market have definitely cooled.”
“It feels like more of a transitional market, with more stock and fewer buyers.”
City-dwellers are returning to the regions
Regional relocations surged in the first quarter of this year, according to Commonwealth Bank and the Regional Australia Institute’s Regional Movers Index.
While fewer people moved to the regions after pandemic lockdowns were lifted, the number of people relocating from a capital to a regional area is now sitting 20% higher than prior to the pandemic, the report found.
About two-thirds of people relocating from cities to the regions over the 12 months to March 2024 came from Sydney, while about 30% came from Melbourne.
The Sunshine Coast was still the most popular destination, with 16% of all regional movers heading there, followed by the Gold Coast at about 9% and Geelong at about 6%.
The Gold Coast was the second-most popular destination after the Sunshine Coast for people leaving the capitals for the regions. Picture: Getty
Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said the regional lifestyle was proving highly desirable for thousands of city-dwellers, describing the trend as a “societal shift” rather than just a flow-on effect after lockdowns.
“With high house prices and cost-of-living pressures biting, many people are realising the regions can offer the lifestyle they want and the jobs they’re after, minus big city problems like long commute times, tolls and traffic,” she said.
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Millennials were the key demographic making the move, according to the report, which Commonwealth Bank regional and agribusiness executive general manager Paul Fowler said was due to young families seeking more affordable homes.
“Many are opting for the large regional centres which are buzzing with business activity and investment, offering a great range of employment opportunities,” he said.