Last week, Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) released data showing that a record 64.4% of homes in Sydney were valued at $1 million or above. This compares to 41.6% of homes valued above $1 million across the combined capital cities.
Source: Cotality (formerly CoreLogic)
According to SQM Research, Sydney’s median asking price for houses hit $2,040,000 in May, an increase of around $600,000 from five years earlier.
SQM’s asking prices index “tracks the vendor’s expectations of asking prices”, which has proven “to be an accurate leading indicator of the direction in which house prices are likely to move, going forward”.
Domain’s median sold house price for Sydney was a record high $1,691,731 in Q1 2025.
Last week, Demographia released its 2025 international housing affordability survey, which listed Sydney as having the second most expensive housing market out of the eight nations surveyed, just behind Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s affordability has been rapidly improving amid falling prices.
By contrast, Sydney house prices are likely to record strong price growth over the next two years as the Reserve Bank of Australia lowers interest rates and Labor’s stimulatory housing policies come into effect.
These policies include Labor’s 5% deposit scheme for all first-time buyers, the expanded Help-to-Buy shared equity scheme, and the exclusion of student debts from mortgage serviceability calculations.
Next year’s Demographia affordability survey will, therefore, likely rank Sydney as the most expensive housing market, taking the mantle from Hong Kong.
