Outer Suburbs Outperform: Affordable Housing Markets Drive Australia's Capital Growth

Recent market data reveals a clear geographic divergence in Australia's property performance, with outer suburban areas significantly outpacing inner-city markets. The nation's strongest housing growth has concentrated in the more affordable fringes of capital cities as buyers adapt to tighter lending conditions and stretched affordability.

Key Market Trends

• Affordable properties have led capital growth nationally

• Value-focused demand pushing buyers further from city centers

• Consistent outperformance in suburbs 20km+ from CBDs across all capitals

SYDNEY

In Sydney, all of the top twenty suburbs for annual growth were at least 20km from the CBD, with Fairfield, Liverpool and Blacktown LGAs dominating the city’s top 20 list. Notably, 81% of suburbs 20km or more from Sydney’s GPO recorded annual gains, compared with only 26% of those within 5km.

MELBOURNE

Melbourne followed a similar pattern, where despite broader market softness, 38% of suburbs 20km or more from the CBD recorded growth, with Hume, Frankston and Casey LGAs emerging as standout performers. In contrast, just 4% of suburbs within 5km of the city saw a rise in dwelling values.

BRISBANE

In Brisbane, only 2% of suburbs across the metro region have recorded a decline in value over the past 12 months.  Although growth conditions are broad-based, values across the lower quartile of the market are up 14.0% over the past 12 months compared with a 4.8% rise in values across the upper quartile.  Across the top 20 suburbs recording the highest annual gain in values, 17 were located at least 20km from the Brisbane GPO, with more than half of the top 20 located within the Ipswich LGA.

ADELAIDE

Adelaide has seen dwelling values rise by 9.8% over the past twelve months, with every suburb recording a rise.  The strongest gains across Adelaide have been concentrated across the lower quartile of the market, with values up 15.2% compared with a 7.3% gain in values across the upper quartile.  16 of the top 20 suburbs for annual gains in value were located at least 20km from the Adelaide GPO, with the strongest conditions skewed towards the northern suburbs. 7 of the top 20 growth suburbs were located within the Playford LGA, and 5 in Gawler LGA.

PERTH

Perth’s lower quartile of home values have recorded double the level of growth than the upper quartile over the past 12 months, up 15.4% and 7.7% respectively.  15 of the top 20 highest growth suburbs over the past 12 months were located at least 15km form the Perth GPO, and only one suburb in the top 20 was within 10km of the GPO.  Swan (7 suburbs in the top 20) and Mundaring (4 suburbs) LGAs accounted for the largest share of high-growth suburbs.