Australian property growth in 2025

The headline of the report is that the value of all properties in Australia has grown by 8.7%, with the biggest growth in the price of homes which have gone up by 9.1%.

In real terms, the average house price has gone up $89,700 to $969,000 and the average unit has gone up by $57,400 to $713,000.

There are several reasons for this growth, including RBA rate cuts and the expanded first home buyer scheme rolled out in October 2025.

And while there may be some pockets where prices have dipped over the year, the trend over the country has seen properties nearly everywhere go up in value.

Capital cities with the highest property growth this year

Melbourne and Sydney are often in the headlines for their property values and, while the median price in those cities is high, their growth this year was among the lowest. With 6.4% in Melbourne and 6.5% in Sydney, only Canberra (5.6%) grew less this year for house prices.

The biggest growth was seen in these three cities:
1. Darwin: 16.5% rise
2. Brisbane: 14.0% rise
3. Perth: 12.4% rise

After that, regional properties saw a 10.0% increase, Adelaide 9.4% and Hobart 8.0%.

Of course, the median property value plays a big part in this. If you’re looking at a $1m property, 6.5% is still $65,000.

Australian property predictions for 2026

Making predictions is for mugs, as we saw with the recent RBA announcement which almost every commentator got wrong, so while we won’t make our own guesses, we have rounded up some opinions about next year’s market:

Houses prices will soar in the first half of 2026, with Sydney seeing a 10% increase in that time (Domain)

But Melbourne will be the best-performing city in Australia for both houses and units in terms of monetary increase while Darwin’s properties will grow the most by percentage (KPMG)

Affordability will put the brakes on around the middle of the year, with growth slower and steadier in the later months (Property Update)

Australia’s properties will rise by a further 9% in 2026 (Westpac)

Unit prices will outpace house prices in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth (Domain)

Five cities in Australia will have a median property value of $1m, with Adelaide and Perth joining the group (Rethink Group)

Sydney’s median house price will be more than $1.9m by the end of 2026 (Domain)

RBA will announce rate cuts in May and August (Westpac)

Or it will hike interest rates, starting in February (HSBC)

Melbourne’s property values will get back to their pre-pandemic peak prices (Domain)

Buying property in 2026

With most predictions pointing to a continuation of increased prices next year, it makes sense for a lot of buyers to get onto the market quickly. If you’re in a position to take advantage of the 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers, if you’ve saved up enough for a traditional deposit, or you want to take advantage of the new 10% deposit/no LMI mortgaeg, get in touch with the team at Wisebuy and let us find the best home loan option for you.