More than one in three Australian housing markets have recorded median house or unit values of $1 million or more in September.
A report by Cotality found the 34% figure is up from just over 30% at the same time last year, with another 154 markets joining the million-dollar club while just 11 saw their median values dip below the benchmark.
The number of million-dollar suburbs has skyrocketed 143% over the past five years with seven-figure price tags becoming increasingly common outside traditional prestige markets.
Brisbane led all markets nationally, recording the largest net change in million-dollar suburbs over the past year.
All up, 37 new markets joined Brisbane's million-dollar club with the city now accounting for 12.4% of all million-dollar markets nationally.
Sydney was next with another 36 suburbs recording median dwelling prices of $1 million over the year, as illustrated below:
Source: Cotality Million Dollar Markets, October 2025
Regional Victoria was the only capital city or region to record a net decline in seven-figure markets.
What does $1m buy?
Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said the million-dollar benchmark is losing some of its relevance in the current property market.
"Five years ago, just 14% of Australian suburbs were members of the million-dollar club with the majority concentrated in the Sydney's prestigious Northern Beaches, Eastern suburbs, and the North Sydney and Hornsby regions," she said.
"Since then, dwelling values nationally have risen by over 46.8%, or roughly $270,000, at the median level and membership in the million-dollar club has increased by 142.9%."
Currently, 41.9% of Australia's house markets and 13.5% of unit markets have seven-figure price tags.
Many of the new entrants to the million-dollar club are now typically in mortgage belt suburbs such as Sydney's Penrith and Melbourne's Taylors Lakes as well as Oxley in Brisbane's Ipswich region and Upper Coomera on the northern Gold Coast.
Bad news for affordability
Ms Ezzy said as more suburbs cross the million-dollar threshold, it compounds concerns over affordability and market access, especially for first home buyers.
"A household on the average income of $106,000 with a 20% deposit would need to dedicate more than 50% of their pre-tax earnings to service a loan on a million-dollar property," she said.
"This increases to more than 60% if they're using the [5% Deposit Scheme], a repayment-to-income ratio few brokers will approve."
See also: What is home loan serviceability & how is it calculated?
Despite million-dollar sales becoming more mainstream, Ms Ezzy said home ownership is increasingly moving out of the reach for the younger generation.
She cites the average age of first-home buyers continues to creep higher while home ownership rates are steadily declining, particularly among younger and lower-income households whose earnings struggle to keep pace with rising home prices.
"With tight supply levels and additional demand from the expanded [5% Deposit Scheme], values are expected to continue their upward trajectory through 2025, which will likely see more suburbs cross the seven-figure threshold," she said.
At their currently quarterly rate of growth, at least another 80 markets are on track to have median house and/or unit prices over the $1 million mark by the end of the year.
State-by-state findings
NSW
- Nearly 70% of Sydney markets analysed had a median value of $1 million or above.
- Regional NSW saw the highest number of re-entrants to the million-dollar club, with 18 markets coming in above the threshold over the past year on the back of a nominal recovery.
VIC
- Melbourne added just seven new million-dollar markets, reflecting ongoing softness in growth.
- Regional Victoria was the only region nationally to record a net decline in seven-figure markets.
QLD
- Brisbane recorded the largest net increase in million-dollar markets nationally.
- Regional Queensland now has 141 million-dollar markets with the majority concentrated on the Gold Coast (69) and Sunshine Coast (61). Other regions represented include Toowoomba, Wide Bay, Townsville, and the Whitsundays.
WA
- 19 Perth suburbs saw their values rise above the $1 million mark for the first time in the past year, seeing the total number of seven-figure markets rise to 129.
- Regional WA doubled its million-dollar markets from six to 12 - all on the back of house price rises. Bunbury has nine entries on the list, along with two suburbs in the North Wheat Belt region (Chittering and Lower Chittering) and Kalgan in Albury.
SA
- House prices are $1 million or over in 42% of the Adelaide suburbs analysed, up from 27.9% at the same time last year. None of the city's unit markets recorded a seven-figure median.
- None of the SA regional markets exceeded the million-dollar median mark in September despite a 10.4% annual increase in dwelling values.
TAS
- Four of Hobart's 61 markets (48 house and 13 unit markets) had a seven-figure median value, all waterfront house markets in the city's inner and north-east region.
- None of Tasmania's regional markets recorded a median value of $1 million or over.
NT
- While Darwin led the country in value growth over the year to September (up 12.9%), the NT remains the only state or territory without a million-dollar market. The Darwin beachside suburb of Nightcliff was the closest with a median house value of $944,871.
ACT
- Canberra's median house value returned above $1 million in June, with around 60% of the city's house markets recording a seven-figure median.
- Yarralumla in South Canberra is the city's only unit market with a median value over $1 million (median price: $1,233,304).
Cotality's latest Million Dollar Markets report, released on Wednesday, analysed 4,844 markets (3,514 house and 1,330 units markets) nationally.
Advertisement
Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.
| Lender | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | Max LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Extra Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.94% p.a. | 5.98% p.a. | $2,978 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $530 | 90% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.89% p.a. | 5.80% p.a. | $2,962 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $0 | 80% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.99% p.a. | 6.02% p.a. | $2,995 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $0 | $0 | 60% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.93% p.a. | 5.93% p.a. | $2,975 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $395 | 70% | Disclosure |
