Latest NewsSydney’s explosion in $4m and $3m suburbs: prices hit new extremes in already pricey marketSunday, 23 January 2022

Paying more than $3m for a house has become the norm in nearly one in eight Sydney suburbs and there are 29 suburbs where prices typically exceed $4m.

And even more areas will cross these high marks if prices simply grow at the same rate as inflation this year, market analysis has revealed.

It comes as low interest rates, housing shortages and the Covid pandemic combined last year to fuel Sydney’s biggest housing boom in three decades.

There were already an incredible 39 suburbs where median house prices were over $3m at the start of 2021, but the number more than doubled to 82 suburbs by year-end.

That bounty of pricey areas included 29 suburbs where the median house price was over $4m, 

For some context, Melbourne has just one suburb with a $4m median. The rest of Australia has none.

Melbourne’s sole $4m suburb is the mansion mecca of Toorak, where the wealthiest Victorians live, but many of Sydney suburbs now in this category were not traditionally markets for the ultra-wealthy.

They included Fairlight, near Manly, Roseville Chase, on the upper north shore and Queens Park in the east.

Other $4m suburbs were lower north shore enclaves Cremorne, Greenwich and Castlecrag and eastern suburbs Waverley, Coogee and South Coogee.

Prices in these areas jumped by more than 35 per cent over the year – in some cases, an average rise of more than $1m.

Suburbs where the median house price surpassed $3m for the first time last year were Cronulla, Maroubra, Chatswood, Manly Vale, Bondi Junction, Lane Cove, Drummoyne and Haberfield.

CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said these suburbs attracted some of the most extreme price rises in the country last year because they were often perceived as “retreats within the city”.

“We’ve had this environment where people have been locked down for two years and they’ve looked for escapes. A lot of these markets have easy access to the coast,” Ms Owen said.

The staggering prices now being recorded in parts of Sydney reflected homebuyer’s appetite for debt, not changes in income or wages, Ms Owen said.

“It can seem mind-boggling how people can (pay) these premiums, but the answer is that most are changeover buyers,” she said.

“They bought really well 10 years ago when prices were lower, they saw gains on their home as interest rates dropped, and then had a huge amount of equity to direct toward buying (a new home).

“The extraordinary prices are a reflection of how finance is structured and how you can use equity to purchase homes … the growth we had is really a story about what happens when interest rates are low.”

The owners don’t dictate the prices, it’s what buyers are prepared to pay to secure the properties ahead of the competition from other buyers.

Chief economist Nerida Consibee said it was unlikely last year’s incredible price gains would be repeated in 2022 and there were signs the market was slowing down.

Pent up demand could drive a modest rise in the early months of the year, but tighter lending controls and greater housing supply meant growth would slow further into the year, Ms Conisbee said.

But considering how high prices have become, even a slight rise this year would be enough to push another glut of suburbs into the multimillion dollar club.

A 3 per cent rise in prices this year, roughly in line with inflation, would mean $3m would become the norm for houses in Concord, Gladesville, Lane Cove West, North Balgowlah and Bilgola Plateau, among others.

[Aidan Devine]

Paying more than $3m for the average house in a suburb remains rare outside Sydney.

Including Toorak, Melbourne has five suburbs with a median above $3m, Perth has one and the rest of the country doesn’t have any.

SUBURBS WHERE MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE IS $3M+

Killara, East Lindfield, Castle Cove, Roseville, Riverview, Gordon, Lindfield, Artarmon, Curl Curl, Tennyson Point, Seaforth, East Killara, Freshwater, Willoughby, Randwick, Paddington, Burraneer, Balmain East, Bringelly, North Willoughby, Putney, North Curl Curl, Balgowlah, Kensington, Cammeray, Narrabeen, Strathfield, Avalon Beach, North Manly, Cabarita, Pymble, Warrawee, Collaroy, Naremburn, North Sydney, Drummoyne, Newport, Rodd Point, Turramurra, Chatswood, Bayview, Russell Lea, Lane Cove, Birchgrove, Abbotsford, Haberfield, Cronulla, Bondi Junction, Manly Vale, Maroubra, North Turramurra, St Ives

SUBURBS WHERE MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE IS $4M+

Fairlight, Roseville Chase, South Coogee, Waverley, Palm Beach, Coogee, McMahons Point

Queens Park, Bondi Beach, Cremorne, Hunters Hill, Balgowlah Heights, Castlecrag, Greenwich, Bondi, Manly, Woollahra, Clontarf, North Bondi, Northbridge, Clovelly,

Longueville, Mosman, Bronte, Dover Heights, Rose Bay, Double Bay, Vaucluse, Bellevue Hill, Point Piper