Overview
House and unit ownership has become more unaffordable than ever in Australia, but upon investigating Domain's latest house price report, you may be surprised to find that a handful of suburbs actually have seen prices drop in the last five years. Released in January, the report details price changes on a suburb-by-suburb basis, but units are outperforming houses across the board.
As the report reads, "Australia's housing upswing is firmly entrenched, but no longer uniform." Growth is still the norm, but it's becoming more and more uneven, and buyers can now get a better idea of what suburbs have actually seen median prices drop.
In Sydney, where price growth is continuing for the third quarter in a row, and the median unit price is $844,390, some stereotypically pricey suburbs have actually grown cheaper. Units in the luxury harbourside suburb of Kirribilli recorded a 23.1% decline in price over the last year, while out west, Concord prices dropped by 31.3%. In the north, prices dropped 13.2% in Lindfield, and Olympic Park down by 10.1%.
In Victoria, Melbourne is officially the third most affordable capital city in the country for unit buyers, but prices have continued to climb a further 3.8% to a median of $601,184. Notable suburbs that saw prices drop included artistic haven Murrumbeena, which saw prices drop by 20.7%, Melbourne itself by 13.8% (adding to a large drop of 18.6% in the last five years), Carlton, which saw a drop of 22.5% in the last year and Malvern East by 13.9%.
Brisbane's unit prices continue to grow, and have been for a record 19 consecutive quarters on record, currently sitting at a median of $770,471. Prices haven't dropped in the same way as other cities, though, with drops recorded in just a handful of suburbs such as Highgate Hill, which saw a drop of 14%. Other Queensland areas like Port Douglas, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast recorded minor declines, but most medians continue to climb.
Elsewhere in Australia, Canberra was the only capital city to actually record a decline in median unit price overall, dropping by 1.3% to $611,466, while the needle didn't move at all in Hobart, where houses are 46% more expensive than the median unit price of $526,980. All other capital cities recorded growth, and house prices even more so, with Domain's 2026 First Home Buyers Report noting that entry-level house prices have risen by an average of $150,000 across the nation.
For the full report, visit the Domain website here.
Lead image: Destination NSW