The cheapest and priciest suburbs in every part of Australia – where does yours rank?
Daniel Butkovich, Property Journalist
First published 17 April 2025, 12:00 PM
PropTrack data analysing home values in every suburb and region of Australia showed buyers seeking the most affordable suburbs in their area could save hundreds of thousands of dollars – if they know where to look.
On the flipside, the numbers showed just how much more buyers would need to pay to get into the most expensive suburbs in their local market, with the premium paid for pricey suburbs sometimes soaring into the millions.
The data used PropTrack’s automated valuation model (AVM) to determine a suburb’s median house or unit value.
This figure was compared with the median value for each suburbs’ SA4 region, which is a geographical area defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Australia is divided into 88 SA4 regions, which are typically larger than local government areas (LGA) and sometimes have similar names, although the borders differ.
SA4 regions usually have a minimum population of 100,000 people, although within cities these regions may have populations ranging between 300,000 and 500,000 people.
Where to find the cheapest suburbs in the priciest regions
The data showed that even in pricey regions of the capitals, buyers could still find suburbs where homes were typically much more affordable than the region overall.
In Australia’s priciest region, Sydney’s eastern suburbs, a typical house was worth a whopping $3.465 million.
But buyers could save about $850,000 by searching in the region’s cheapest suburb, Matraville, where the median value was $2.61 million – although this figure was still pricey, even by Sydney standards.
Meanwhile, eastern suburbs unit buyers stood to save most by searching in Edgecliff, where a typical unit cost $343,000 less than the region’s median unit value of $1.21 million.
In Melbourne’s pricey inner east, the median house value was about $1.56 million, but houses in the region’s cheapest suburb, Blackburn North, were typically almost $300,000 cheaper than that.
In the unit market, the inner south was Melbourne’s priciest region with a median value of $716,000, but an apartment in Caulfield East typically costs $408,000 – a saving of more than $300,000 compared with the wider region.
Brisbane’s inner city was Queensland’s priciest region with a $1.57 million median house value, but a typical house in Albion was $376,000 cheaper. For unit buyers, an apartment in Bowen Hills costs $136,000 less than a typical inner Brisbane unit.
Buyers looking in inner Perth, Western Australia’s priciest region, could expect to pay $1.765 million for a typical house, but searching in the suburb of West Perth could save buyers $782,000 compared with the wider region.
What makes a suburb cheaper than its wider region?
While the data showed buyers searching in a region’s cheapest suburb would pay much less, there may be some trade-offs.
REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh said the cheapest suburbs in each region often shared common traits which kept values lower, with many affordable suburbs located further from CBDs or having fewer amenities and less infrastructure than more expensive areas.
“Limited access to quality schools, transport, retail, parks or hospitals can correlate with lower values,” she said.
“Housing stock may be dated, smaller in size, or in poorer condition. Suburbs with higher density, lower-quality developments often have reduced desirability.”
Real estate agent and auctioneer Wen Yu Huang of CHN Real Estate Group said the reason Blackburn North was the most affordable suburb in Melbourne’s inner east was because it was on the outer fringe of its region.
“If you're looking at inner suburbs, the further you are from the city will make it a little bit more affordable in general,” Mr Huang said.
'These Aussie suburbs have outpaced the rest': youtube.com/mortgagechoice
The suburb’s affordability and older homes attracted many first-home buyers whose buying power was limited, he said.
“You have more potential for people to buy something a bit cheaper, a bit older and put their own touch on it, or build something themselves,” he said.
In the case of Matraville in Sydney’s east, local real estate agent and McGrath Maroubra partner Simon Nolan said the "undervalued" suburb had long been among the most affordable in the region owing to its working-class history.
“But that's been changing year on year for the past 15 to 20 years as older single houses have made way for modern bespoke duplexes,” Mr Nolan said.
“The proliferation of this type of product, which have been getting bigger and better as time goes on, has attracted a younger white-collar buyer, who are coming from the more expensive areas north of Matraville where they grew up, but where a comparable property is 100 to 200% more in many cases.”
Values in some relatively affordable suburbs may be affected by other factors such as proximity to industrial areas, or environmental risks such as flooding, Ms Creagh said.
Why are the priciest suburbs so much more expensive?
At the other end of the spectrum, the most expensive suburbs in each region often had median values magnitudes higher than the region overall, Ms Creagh said.
“Top-tier suburbs often record median prices more than double their SA4 median, and the reasons are multi-dimensional,” she said.
“These factors create a compounding premium, making the best suburbs not just more expensive, but oftentimes disproportionately so compared to the values of the surrounding region.”
A median-priced Toorak house was $4.63 million – more than three times the price of a typical home in the inner Melbourne region.
Meanwhile, a median-priced house in Peppermint Grove was valued at $4.52 million – about $2.75 million more than inner Perth’s median price.
Prestige, exclusivity and the scarcity of land in desirable areas all played a part, Ms Creagh said.
“Suburbs like Bellevue Hill, Toorak or Peppermint Grove are synonymous with status,” she said. “They have long-standing reputations as elite addresses.
“These suburbs often feature larger blocks, heritage homes, or tightly held properties — limiting supply and pushing up prices.
“Quiet, leafy streets, top-tier public and private schools, and vibrant local retail or dining villages all add to the lifestyle premium.”
Suburbs close to CBDs with large, high quality homes on big blocks, such as Toorak, are often the among priciest in their region. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Peppermint Grove’s enviable position was the biggest factor driving its top-tier status, according to local real estate agent and Ray White Cottesloe and Mosman Park director Jody Fewster.
“It’s located on the edge of the Swan River within five minutes of beautiful Cottesloe beach, and it’s characterised by beautiful large leafy blocks,” she said.
“It is the most aspirational suburb because it sits in the middle of all the best private schools with access to good public schools too.”
Similar drawcards were found within the priciest suburbs in Sydney’s north (Cremorne Point, Longueville, Mosman) and east (Bellevue Hill, Vaucluse, Double Bay).
Proximity to beaches or a city’s CBD were common factors among many top-ranked suburbs within the capitals, as was the quality of homes within a suburb.
Homes in exclusive and pricey suburbs such as Peppermint Grove are typically large, luxurious and have access to desirable amenities such as parks, beaches and top-tier schools. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Higher land values often meant wealthy homeowners could capitalise on their prime position with lavish newly-built homes or extensive renovations to period properties, further enhancing the desirability of homes in these suburbs.
“Homes are often bespoke, architect-designed or recently upgraded to premium standards,” Ms Creagh said.
In outer regions of the capitals, semi-rural suburbs with large landholdings often ranked highly.
Most of the suburbs with the largest variation in unit prices compared with the wider region took advantage of a waterfront location, with apartments offering views worth considerably more than those further from coasts or rivers.
Others were home to more recently-built apartments with larger floor plans, or units in smaller complexes where each unit’s share of the land represents a greater proportion of the property’s value.
How to find 'value buys' within each region
Ms Creagh said knowing where a suburb ranked within its region could serve as a valuable guidepost for homebuyers.
“Buyers can identify the most accessible entry points into a region that offer a significant discount to the region median and may offer long-term growth potential,” she said.
“However price positioning can highlight the trade-offs between location, lifestyle and housing quality. For example, a slightly higher price in a better-located suburb may deliver better returns or lifestyle upside.”
Suburbs priced close to the midpoint of their region could potentially offer buyers the best of both worlds – proximity to the region's drawcards without the premium price tag.
“Mid-tier suburbs might represent ‘value buys’,” Ms Creagh said. “Not the cheapest, but more affordable than prestige postcodes while offering decent access to amenities.”
This article first appeared on realestate.com.au and has been republished with permission.
