The Housing Reshuffle: How Australia's property hierarchy has been completely reordered

Six years ago, the hierarchy of Australian property markets seemed set in stone. Sydney reigned supreme as the nation's most expensive city, with Melbourne a clear second, followed by the ACT in third place. Regional areas and Queensland's coastal cities, while desirable, occupied their traditional spots further down the ladder.

Today, that established order has dramatically changed.

New data tracking house price movements from May 2019 to May 2025 reveals how fundamentally changed Australia's real estate landscape now is and challenged decades of conventional wisdom about where Australians want to live.

Melbourne has shifted down the national rankings

Perhaps no single statistic captures this transformation better than Melbourne's shift from the nation's second-most expensive property market to sixth place – a movement of four positions that highlights just how dramatically Australian property markets have evolved.

In 2019, Melbourne houses commanded an average price that firmly established the city as Australia's second-most expensive market. Fast forward to 2025, and Melbourne sits behind not just Sydney and the ACT, but also the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Brisbane – markets that have experienced exceptional growth over this period.

With current house prices averaging $1.04 million, Melbourne has experienced growth of 32.1 per cent over the six-year period. However, this has been overshadowed by the explosive growth in Queensland's coastal markets, which have benefited from significant lifestyle-driven demand.

Queensland's coastal cities have surged to the top

The Gold Coast's transformation has been particularly dramatic. Once the nation's fourth-most expensive market, it has surged to second place, with house prices now averaging $1.25 million – a staggering 95.4 per cent increase since 2019.The Sunshine Coast has similarly rocketed from fifth to third place nationally, with average house prices of $1.19 million representing 92.2 per cent growth.

Brisbane, too, has climbed the ranks, moving from sixth to fifth place with average prices now exceeding $1.04 million – remarkably, now more expensive than Melbourne despite being considered significantly more affordable just six years ago.

Previously affordable areas have become premium markets

The most striking element of this reordering is how areas that were once considered budget-friendly options have transformed into sought-after markets commanding significant premiums. This shift represents one of the most dramatic changes in Australian property dynamics in decades.