Where you should’ve bought: Australian suburbs with the strongest long-term price growth
If you bought a property 10 years ago in one of Australia’s most popular coastal hotspots, chances are it would have grown in value up to twice as fast as the wider market.
That’s according to the latest PropTrack data revealing the Australian suburbs with the highest average rates of annual price growth over the past decade.
In one popular suburb where prices grew the fastest, properties have gone up in value by an average of more than 15% each year.
The majority of the suburbs with the fastest house price growth rates over the past decade were found in Queensland and New South Wales.
But rather than Sydney or Brisbane suburbs dominating the list, it was coastal towns and lifestyle destinations outside the capital cities that recorded the strongest growth.
Beachside destinations such as Byron Bay and Noosa Heads had average annual house price growth rates that were about double their respective state capitals over the same period.
Suburbs with the highest average annual house price growth
| Suburb | State | Median sale price (2024) | Median sale price (2014) | Average annual growth rate | |
| 1 | Byron Bay | NSW | $3,500,000 | $847,500 | 15.2% |
| 2 | Jindabyne | NSW | $1,260,000 | $377,500 | 12.8% |
| 3 | Noosa Heads | QLD | $2,050,000 | $642,500 | 12.3% |
| 4 | Narrawallee | NSW | $1,350,000 | $425,000 | 12.3% |
| 5 | Rokeby | TAS | $600,000 | $190,500 | 12.2% |
| 6 | Doonan | QLD | $1,980,000 | $627,500 | 12.2% |
| 7 | Miami | QLD | $1,727,000 | $560,000 | 11.9% |
| 8 | Palm Beach | QLD | $1,770,000 | $575,000 | 11.9% |
| 9 | Mermaid Beach | QLD | $3,400,000 | $1,123,500 | 11.7% |
| 10 | Copacabana | NSW | $1,905,000 | $629,750 | 11.7% |
| 11 | Bermagui | NSW | $1,122,500 | $370,500 | 11.7% |
| 12 | Warana | QLD | $1,550,000 | $514,262 | 11.7% |
| 13 | Casuarina | NSW | $2,065,000 | $685,000 | 11.7% |
| 14 | Paxton | NSW | $740,000 | $245,000 | 11.7% |
| 15 | Beechworth | VIC | $890,000 | $297,000 | 11.6% |
| 16 | Sunrise Beach | QLD | $1,850,000 | $620,000 | 11.6% |
| 17 | Buddina | QLD | $1,617,500 | $542,500 | 11.5% |
| 18 | Alexandra Headland | QLD | $2,095,000 | $702,500 | 11.5% |
| 19 | Suffolk Park | NSW | $2,086,250 | $702,500 | 11.5% |
| 20 | Bingara | NSW | $355,000 | $120,000 | 11.5% |
The data examines changes in median sale prices over the 10 year period from 2014 until 2024 to determine an average rate of annual price growth over the past decade.
A decade ago, a typical Byron Bay house was worth just shy of $850,000, but today the same home would be worth about $3.5 million, equating to an average annual growth rate of 15.2%.
That’s a much greater return than a typical Sydney house which, if purchased for the median price of about $730,000 in 2014 would be worth about $1.43 million today – an average growth rate of 6.9% a year.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This five-bedroom Byron Bay house recently sold for $3.5 million, which was the suburb’s median sale price over the past 12 months. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
It’s no surprise that house prices in many coastal hotspots boomed during the pandemic as city-dwellers sought to escape lockdowns gripping the capitals.
Many property buyers increasingly prioritised lifestyle factors, and larger properties with more outdoor space became more desirable.
House prices in Byron Bay were already booming before the pandemic, but climbed even higher as the coastal hotspot generated international interest. Despite rising interest rates triggering a pullback, prices soon reached record levels again. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
This exceptional period of growth contributed towards these suburbs becoming some of the nation’s top performers over the past decade, but that’s only part of the story, said PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty.
“It’s definitely a major contributor because we did see people reset their focus on lifestyle suburbs and that drove up very significant values in areas like Byron Bay,” she said.
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“But even on the other side of the pandemic there is still stronger demand for lifestyle suburbs than there was beforehand.”
“The baby boomers, which are the equal biggest generation, they’re in the midst of retirement and so a lot of them are looking to move to scenic areas, and that’s driving up demand in lifestyle suburbs.”
“For the working age population, a higher percentage can work remotely than they could beforehand which again drives up demand in these suburbs.”
Suburbs with the highest average annual unit price growth
| Suburb | State | Median sale price (2024) | Median sale price (2014) | Average annual growth rate | |
| 1 | Bilinga | QLD | $1,545,000 | $410,000 | 14.2% |
| 2 | Jindabyne | NSW | $756,250 | $220,000 | 13.1% |
| 3 | Noosa Heads | QLD | $1,850,000 | $575,000 | 12.4% |
| 4 | Bethania | QLD | $502,000 | $169,000 | 11.5% |
| 5 | Palm Beach | QLD | $1,030,000 | $356,250 | 11.2% |
| 6 | Coolangatta | QLD | $1,100,000 | $391,750 | 10.9% |
| 7 | Miami | QLD | $1,000,000 | $356,000 | 10.9% |
| 8 | Waverley | NSW | $1,670,000 | $594,000 | 10.9% |
| 9 | Main Beach | QLD | $1,600,000 | $573,000 | 10.8% |
| 10 | Mermaid Waters | QLD | $862,500 | $310,000 | 10.8% |
| 11 | Casuarina | NSW | $1,047,500 | $380,000 | 10.7% |
| 12 | Highland Park | QLD | $660,000 | $246,000 | 10.4% |
| 13 | Sippy Downs | QLD | $585,000 | $220,000 | 10.3% |
| 14 | Currumbin Waters | QLD | $805,000 | $307,500 | 10.1% |
| 15 | Clear Island Waters | QLD | $1,100,000 | $420,000 | 10.1% |
| 16 | Tweed Heads | NSW | $850,000 | $329,500 | 9.9% |
| 17 | Elanora | QLD | $760,000 | $302,000 | 9.7% |
| 18 | Burleigh Heads | QLD | $1,000,000 | $400,000 | 9.6% |
| 19 | Pottsville | NSW | $865,000 | $345,000 | 9.6% |
| 20 | Tweed Heads West | NSW | $550,000 | $220,000 | 9.6% |
In the unit market, popular coastal suburbs in south east Queensland and northern NSW had the highest average annual growth rates, especially on the Gold Coast.
Unit prices in Bilinga, a suburb next to the NSW border and occupied mostly by the Gold Coast Airport, grew at an average rate of 14.2% per year.
An oceanfront apartment with water views could be purchased 10 years ago in Bilinga for about $400,000. That same unit today would cost more than $1.5 million.
This two-bedroom oceanfront apartment in Bilinga on the Gold Coast sold earlier this year for $1.35 million. It last sold in 2013 for $500,000. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Gold Coast real estate agent and Base Property Group director Paul Kearney said the suburb’s strongest price growth occurred before and after the pandemic, with the suburb character changing as older tightly-held oceanfront houses were redeveloped into newer apartment blocks.
“There’s only an eight-level height limit due to the airport, and that’s really comforting to people knowing it’s still going to keep that beachy low to medium density feel,” he said.
He said many buyers were from Brisbane or interstate looking to purchasing weekenders in a quiet convenient beachfront suburb, and due to its location adjacent to the runway, overhead flight noise wasn’t a major issue.
“I’ve sold a lot of properties to people from Sydney or Melbourne who come up for a week and can get off the plane and walk or ride a bike to their place,” he said.
Apartments in Palm Beach, Coolangatta, Miami and Main Beach had the next highest growth rates of Gold Coast suburbs, while Noosa Heads posted strong gains for units too.
Suburbs at the southern end of the Gold Coast such as Coolangatta (pictured), Palm Beach and Miami. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Outside of Queensland, Jindabyne in the snowy mountains region of NSW recorded high rates of annual price growth for both houses and apartments, while Waverley in Sydney’s eastern suburbs had the city’s best long-term unit price growth.
Jindabyne real estate agent and Belle Property Snowy Mountains principal Dani Kell said the fact that the town still had one of the nation’s highest average growth rates despite prices pulling back recently highlighted just how much values had shifted since the pandemic.
“We certainly had a couple of really good years,” she said. “We had a lot of treechangers coming into town wanting to live here.”
“It’s a lovely country town – there’s lots of cool cafes and restaurants, we run some really great events and we’re the gateway to the snow, with Thredbo and Perisher on our doorstep.”
The lakeside town of Jindabyne near the ski fields of the NSW snowy mountains suddenly boomed during the pandemic, when international travel wasn’t an option. While prices have retreated a little since then, it’s still delivered some of the strongest capital returns over the past 10 years. Picture: Getty
The outperformance of many coastal and regional suburbs also comes amid a long-term trend of increased migration to regional areas, Ms Flaherty said.
“Even though net intrastate migration out of capital cities into regions really accelerated during the pandemic, for 20 plus years we have seen more people moving out of cities into regional areas than the other way around.”
“There’s no question that, even though Covid accelerated growth in some of these suburbs, they were very likely to be outperformers anyway.”
Hobart tops the tables over the past decade
While the strongest performing suburbs over the past 10 years were mostly found in Queensland and NSW, the situation is a little different when comparing the average annual growth rates of the capitals.
Despite price performance that has lagged the other capitals recently, Hobart had the highest average annual house price growth rate over the past decade at 7%, owing largely to a huge boom period in the lead up to, and during the pandemic.
How house prices changed across the capitals since 2014
| City | Median sale price (2024) | Median sale price (2014) | Average annual growth rate |
| Sydney | $1,426,000 | $731,000 | 6.9% |
| Melbourne | $860,000 | $547,000 | 4.6% |
| Brisbane | $875,000 | $468,000 | 6.5% |
| Adelaide | $783,000 | $410,000 | 6.7% |
| Perth | $740,000 | $545,000 | 3.1% |
| Hobart | $700,000 | $355,000 | 7.0% |
| Darwin | $563,000 | $535,000 | 0.5% |
| Canberra | $950,000 | $535,000 | 5.9% |
Sydney came in close second at 6.9%, followed by Adelaide at 6.7% and Brisbane at 6.5%.
Values in Melbourne grew at an average rate of 4.6%, hampered by lagging price growth during the pandemic and in the years since.
Property prices in Hobart are still below the previous peak recorded in early 2022, but averaged out over a 10-year timescale, it’s had the fastest price growth of all the capitals.
The capital with the fastest house price growth in recent years, Perth, had one of the slowest average annual growth rates over the past decade at 3.5%, with the phenomenal price growth in recent years contrasting with underperformance for many years prior.
Hobart also came out on top for units, which grew in value at an average rate of 6.8% per year, followed by Adelaide at 5.4% and Canberra at 4%.
How unit prices changed across the capitals since 2014
| City | Median sale price (2024) | Median sale price (2014) | Average annual growth rate |
| Sydney | $780,000 | $596,000 | 2.7% |
| Melbourne | $605,000 | $479,000 | 2.4% |
| Brisbane | $596,000 | $420,000 | 3.6% |
| Adelaide | $532,000 | $315,000 | 5.4% |
| Perth | $485,000 | $450,000 | 0.8% |
| Hobart | $525,000 | $272,000 | 6.8% |
| Darwin | $380,000 | $438,000 | -1.4% |
| Canberra | $600,000 | $405,000 | 4.0% |
Ms Flaherty said the data showed just how much short-term price trends differed to a longer-term view of the market.
“Arguably the last four years have had the most diverse property conditions that we’ve seen across the country,” she said
“What we’re seeing at the moment is pretty atypical in terms of outperformance of certain capital cities such as Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane versus the other capitals such as Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart.”
“Hobart has been one of the weakest performing cities over the past year but if we look at that average annual change it’s actually seen the strongest growth.”
Given property was an asset that people generally held for a long time, taking a long-term view was critical, Ms Flaherty said.
“It points to the need to always keep in mind those longer term trends when making decisions about buying,” she said.
