The dip in home prices experienced in 2022 pales in comparison to the surge experienced during the pandemic when interest rates hit record lows. Looking back over a longer horizon, over the past 10 years, almost all suburbs have experienced price growth, with some even tripling in value.
The fortunes of Australia's homeowners have increased substantially over the past 10 years. Since 2013, home prices in Australia have grown by 83% on average.
Regional areas saw prices increase by 92%, compared with capital city areas where prices increased by 80% over the same 10 year period.
There have been numerous factors that have driven this extraordinary growth in values.
The first is the steady decline in the cash rate. The cash rate has been decreasing since 2013, hitting a historical low of 0.1% in November 2020. This lowered mortgage costs and increased the borrowing capacity of buyers.
The impact of this was particularly evident in late 2020 and through 2021, where strong housing demand drove a record 22% growth in home prices.
The second factor is ongoing population growth and land scarcity, especially in suburban areas close to city centres.
With limited space to build homes near large CBDs, the price of homes in surrounding suburbs have surged, becoming unaffordable for many Australians.
As a result, a large number of people have relocated to the regions and smaller capitals, inducing strong price growth in these areas.
Byron Bay homes grew most in price over the past 10 years.
These trends, which have been happening for some time, were massively accelerated by the pandemic when working from home became more normalised.
To gain a better understanding of the suburbs impacted most by the aforementioned factors, we looked at those that experienced the largest growth in home prices over the past 10 years.
| Suburb | State | Current median sale price | 10 year % growth |
| Byron Bay | NSW | $3,000,000 | 362% |
| Bright | VIC | $1,293,000 | 257% |
| Suffolk Park | NSW | $2,101,000 | 256% |
| Berry | NSW | $2,100,000 | 256% |
| Kingscliff | NSW | $2,005,000 | 237% |
| Buddina | QLD | $1,650,000 | 235% |
| Burradoo | NSW | $2,900,000 | 233% |
| Narrawallee | NSW | $1,149,000 | 228% |
| Copacabana | NSW | $1,930,000 | 222% |
| Glenorie | NSW | $2,800,000 | 220% |
Source: PropTrack. Data based on median sale price. Excludes suburbs with <30 sales from Apr'22-Mar'23 and Apr'12-Mar'13.
Byron Bay topped the list for house price growth, with the median increasing by a whopping 362% since March 2013.
Houses in Bright, Suffolk Park and Berry were also in high demand, with prices growing by about 3.6 times over the same period.
Kingscliff and Burradoo were also among the suburbs where house prices grew most.
| Suburb | State | Current median sale price | 10 year % growth |
| Noosa Heads | QLD | $1,885,000 | 279% |
| Jindabyne | NSW | $756,000 | 260% |
| Currumbin Waters | QLD | $735,000 | 161% |
| Kingscliff | NSW | $863,000 | 159% |
| Ettalong Beach | NSW | $830,000 | 159% |
| Sunshine Beach | QLD | $1,413,000 | 159% |
| Byron Bay | NSW | $1,200,000 | 159% |
| Edgecliff | NSW | $1,550,000 | 158% |
| Palm Beach | QLD | $800,000 | 152% |
| Manly | NSW | $1,850,000 | 152% |
Source: PropTrack. Data based on median sale price. Excludes suburbs with <30 sales from Apr'22-Mar'23 and Apr'12-Mar'13.
For units, Noosa Heads and Jindabyne led the pack in terms of price growth, with medians increasing by 279% and 260% respectively.
Currumbin Waters and Ettalong Beach units also grew substantially in price, now 2.6 times what they were 10 years prior.
More insights from the expert team at PropTrack
The majority of these top growth suburbs, for both houses and units, are in located in regional areas, pointing to the pandemic-induced exodus from our cities to the regions.
After falling for much of 2022, prices have rebounded slightly in recent months as demand continues to exceed the new supply of homes coming to market.
