10-year boom: 1 in 3 homes across Australia now worth over $1m

As of April 2025, 19.4 per cent of regional homes had joined the million-dollar clubs, up from just 0.5 per cent a decade ago, while 41.6 per cent in the combined capitals, up from 14.3 per cent, both hitting record highs.

Head of research at Cotality, Eliza Owen, said the surge was driven by a 67.3 per cent increase in dwelling values over the last 10 years.

“When it comes to most aspects of life, $1 million goes a long way. Whether it’s a lifetime of family groceries, 75 years’ worth of household transport costs, or smashed avocado for breakfast every day, for over 100 years,” Owen said.

“For housing however, $1 million is increasingly standard.”

According to Cotality data, the median house value across the combined capitals surpassed the million-dollar mark in August 2024, challenging the long-held belief that only Sydney belonged to the million-dollar home owners’ club.

Despite the surge of dwelling values nationwide, Sydney has remained the most expensive market, recording nearly 65 per cent of dwellings over the million-dollar mark.

“This is unsurprising given the median value of all houses and units in greater Sydney was $1,195,000 in April,” Owen said.

Although $1 million homes have become the norm in Sydney, buyers are left with poor property choice for that price with less space and more further away from the city than they did a decade ago.

Owen said that in 2015, only five-bedroom-plus houses in Greater Sydney had median values above $1 million.

“Now the median house value for all bedroom types is over $1 million, ranging from a median of $1.3 million for a three-bedroom house, to $2 million for a house with five or more bedrooms,” she said.

While being historically more affordable, buyer’s interest in Brisbane over the last couple of years have led the city to record the second-highest portion of homes valued at $1 million or more, at 40.2 per cent.

“This is up from just 2.8 per cent a decade ago and is the highest increase in the period of any region,” Owen said.

Cotality data showed that Brisbane recorded the sharpest increase nationwide, with dwellings valued $1 million or more growing from 6.2 per cent, to 40.2 per cent, in just five years.

Despite experiencing a slower market growth, Melbourne recorded 30.9 per cent of stock over the million-dollar mark in April 2025, down from the 33.1 per cent peak in January 2022.

“While this reflects more subdued market performance and more affordable housing conditions across the city, the portion has increased from 30 per cent in February of this year, and is up from 12.4 per cent of homes a decade ago,” she said.

Similarly to Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth saw a sharp price growth post-pandemic, with million-dollar homes surging from just 4.2 per cent to 27.8 per cent in Adelaide, and from 6 per cent to over 25 per cent in Perth between March 2020 and April 2025.

While Darwin saw dwelling prices rise through the 2000’s infrastructure boom, values have remained steady with the city recording only 1.3 per cent of $1 million homes in April 2025, the lowest stock nationally.

“While certainly the most affordable capital city by value, its remote location and relatively small economy means it is simply not a viable option for many aspiring home owners,” Owen said.

Hobart was the only city to experience a drop in dwelling values, with the only 11. 9 per cent of stock making the million-dollar club, down from 20.3 per cent in March 2022.

Owen said the setback was due to to a combination of factors, including surging interest rates, sluggish population growth, and soft job creation.

According to Owen, while the continuous rise in property prices have been reflective of Australia’s prosperity, they have also locked a lot of citizens outside of the property ladder.

“As values continue to rise, the chance that home owners hit millionaire status increases, opening up new opportunities for further investment, or accessing that wealth through the sale of a property,” she said.

“However, the downsides of such an extraordinary price point are also increasingly evident. The rate of home ownership has gradually declined over time, particularly among younger, low-income households where income cannot keep pace with growth.”

She said data has shown that the median age of first property buyers had also increased with prospective buyers having to rent longer before being able to enter the property market.

Similarly, housing debt surged to keep up with the increasing property values, outpacing modest wage growth.

At the end of 2024, the Reserve Bank of Australia reported a debt-to-income ratio of 135 per cent, up from 122 per cent a decade ago, though slightly down from its 2022 peak of 139 per cent.

“With values expected to continue rising on the back of rate falls in 2025, the wealth divide between home owners and non-home owners is also likely to expand,” Owen concluded.

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