Source
Oct 24, 2025
Brisbane overtakes Canberra as second-most expensive housing market, after Sydney, with median prices rising by nearly $40,000
Australian house prices are rising at their fastest rate in nearly four years, as buyers rush to auctions and owners put off selling amid expectations for a further upswing.
Capital city house values have sustained their longest continuous stretch of growth in a decade with a median increase of $35,000 in the three months to September, new data from Domain shows.
The median price rose $26,000 the previous quarter. Two in three Australians expect prices will rise further in the coming year, NAB research on Wednesday found, with analysts forecasting increases between $50,000 and $100,000.
Brisbane has overtaken Canberra as the second-most expensive house market, after Sydney, with median prices rising nearly $40,000 to hit $1.1m, over the three months to September.
Three interest rate cuts and the prospect of further price hikes in coming months have boosted buyer interest and generated sustained upswings – the longest ever for apartments, and longest in 21 years for houses. “Lauren Jones, a buyer’s agent in Brisbane, said buyers rushed in before October’s expansion of the federal government’s first home guarantee on 5% deposit purchases, which lifted the city’s price caps from $750,000 to $1m. From the moment that they announced that the house market went crazy – we were getting calls every other day for people wanting to get in before 1 October,” she said.
Prices have flown even higher since then, Jones said, frustrating hopeful buyers. One apartment sold for $70,000 more than an identical unit in the same complex, which sold just before the expanded scheme
“They’re seeing that they’ll miss out on a property, and then the next one that comes along in a few weeks’ time, they’re having to pay an extra $10-, $20- or $30,000 for it,” she said.
Rising prices, though, are encouraging those considering selling to hold on longer, which has seen listings fall to their lowest level since 2010, SQM data indicates.
“People know that the market’s rising and, if they don’t have to sell, they’re waiting to just get more capital gains on their property before selling,” Jones said.
Perth, previously one of the hottest housing markets in the country, recorded slower price growth in the September quarter. Homebuyers have increasingly swapped to more affordable units, which outpaced house price growth of $15,000 to rise by $21,000.
Mark Whiteman, the chief executive of the state branch of Ray White real estate, said bidders were still coming to auctions in droves but prices were now out of reach for some.
“For many of those that aren’t raising their paddle [at auction], it isn’t by any other reason than the price may have moved past them,” he said.
Sydney and Melbourne also recorded accelerations in growth but the country’s biggest city well outpaced the second biggest. Sydney houses grew nearly $60,000 more expensive from July to September, while median prices in Melbourne rose by $23,000