Over the past decade, dozens of once-affordable suburbs across Australia — where homes or units could be bought for less than $500,000 — have now crossed into the million-dollar club. According to a recent PropTrack study, 77 suburbs nationally made this leap.
Victoria: From Affordable to Aspirational
Victoria contributed two suburbs to the official “$500K to $1M” list:
- Bright (regional VIC)
- Bittern (Mornington Peninsula)
Other Victorian areas also show rapid recent growth:
- Cranbourne South (houses): ~10.5% annual growth.
- Eynesbury, Launching Place, Bayswater North, Dallas, West Footscray (units): strong year-on-year rises.
- Casterton (regional VIC): Appeared in “doubling in 5 years” growth analyses.
These results underline the shift in demand toward lifestyle-driven regional towns and affordable fringe suburbs of Melbourne.
New South Wales: 18 Suburbs Cross the $1M Mark
NSW contributed 18 suburbs to the “from $500K to $1M” category. Growth has been strong in both Sydney-adjacent areas and regional lifestyle towns.
Examples from recent growth lists include:
- Doubling in 5 years: Teralba, Caddens, Melonba, Kembla Grange, Broulee, Jindabyne, Tocumwal, Springdale Heights.
- Next million-dollar forecasts: Teralba, Wyoming, Waratah (houses) are tipped to join the $1M club soon.
This shows that while Sydney’s established million-dollar suburbs dominate headlines, emerging areas in the Hunter, Central Coast, Illawarra, and Snowy Mountains are seeing dramatic uplifts.
The Bigger Picture
These transformations reflect a fundamental shift in Australian housing demand:
- Away from capital-city cores toward lifestyle-rich or commuter-friendly regions.
- Remote and hybrid work has allowed more buyers to trade proximity for lifestyle.
- Tight land supply and rising construction costs continue to push prices higher in popular towns.
The result? What was once considered “affordable” a decade ago is now out of reach for many with Victoria and NSW suburbs redefining what counts as a million-dollar market.
