The Block host Scott Cam has helped turn Australian suburbs into household names, with new data revealing which postcodes now dominate Australia’s reality TV map.
Australia’s most iconic reality TV suburbs have been revealed, with Melbourne dominating the national rankings, Sydney’s coastal stars soaring in value and Queensland emerging as the country’s new lifestyle contender.
An analysis of the suburbs most frequently featured on Australia’s biggest renovation and property shows, from The Block and Dream Home to Grand Designs Australia and House Rules, combined with new PropTrack market data, shows a dramatic change in where Australians most want to live and renovate.
RELATED: X-rated move Block stars ensure attention
Surprise Melb hotspot celebs flock to it
Melbourne Laneway hotel shocks with a $5.1 million renovation
And for the first time, the suburbs that captivate viewers on screen aren’t always the ones commanding the greatest demand in the real market.
Melbourne remains the country’s most trusted film backdrop and is home to seven of the country’s ten largest ‘reality suburbs’, including South Melbourne, St Kilda, Richmond and Elsternwick.
But the market story beneath that prominence tells a more complex story, with values within the ring stabilizing while other states lead the way.
Alejandro Torres of James Nicolaou Real Estate said Victoria’s grip on the reality canon made perfect sense, even if price growth had cooled.
The Block continues to shape Australia’s obsession with renovation hotspots, strengthening its influence on the suburbs buyers look at and want to live in. Photo: Nine
South Melbourne, St Kilda, Richmond and Elsternwick top the list of Melbourne’s reality TV suburbs thanks to their streetscapes, architecture and screen appeal.
“South Melbourne, St Kilda, Port Melbourne, they’re phenomenal locations,” Mr Torres said.
“If you’re producing lifestyle content, you need suburbs with immediate visual appeal, and those areas deliver that effortlessly.
“They are lifestyle powerhouses that look good from every angle.”
Mr Torres said Melbourne’s strength lies not just in its architecture, but also in its vast identity range, a mix of prestige, bohemian, family precincts and coastal fringes that make the city uniquely filmable.
Broadbeach Waters rises into the national top ten as Queensland’s luxury lifestyle market gains an edge over its southern rivals.
“Melbourne has incredible texture,” he said.
‘There’s the ultra-prestige of Brighton and Toorak, the breezy charm of Bayside and the fast-growing western corridors.
“For a production company it is a dream canvas with unlimited variation.”
But as Melbourne continues to anchor Australia’s largest renovation franchises, local buyer behavior has changed as interest rate uncertainty stretches campaigns and extends decision-making times.
“It’s more piecemeal now,” Torres said.
“Some houses are still flying, but others are taking longer, buyers are being cautious, doing more in-depth due diligence and being less reactive than earlier this year.
“Everyone expected rates to continue to fall, and now we’re preparing for the possibility that rates will rise again. That definitely changes sentiment.”
Whitefox founder Marty Fox and his wife Charlotte say aspirational suburbs rise fastest when on-screen visibility matches authentic lifestyle. Photo: As Koek
Block judge and Whitefox founder Marty Fox said there is still a strong connection between the suburban viewers watching on screen and those they emulate in real life, but that visibility doesn’t always translate into performance.
“The suburbs that are successful on screen are often the same ones that buyers gravitate towards,” Fox said.
“They are walkable, architecturally and visually rich: places that feel alive both on camera and in real life.”
Sydney’s northern beaches remain one of Australia’s most filmed coastal areas, with demand and prestige rising well beyond the national trend. Photo: NewsWire / Nikki Short
Vaucluse delivers blockbuster prestige appeal for reality TV shows.
Mr Fox said Sydney’s coastal strip illustrates how prestige markets can dramatically disconnect from broader urban conditions.
“Sydney’s coastal enclaves are in their own economic universe,” he said.
“High net worth buyers no longer compare suburbs, they compete for identity.
“That’s why places like Bondi and Manly keep rising.”
According to data from PropTrack, Brisbane’s Coorparoo is up 9.1 per cent in a year, reflecting Queensland’s emergence as a reality TV-worthy lifestyle center for both prestige and family buyers.
Grand Designs Australia focuses on the suburbs where bold architecture and ambitious buildings keep viewers hooked nationwide. Image: ABC
The Whitefox founder added that reality TV does not create desirability, but increases existing appetite.
“TV does not produce ambition, but it certainly reinforces the story,” says Fox.
“If a suburb is already ambitious, the visibility pushes it even further into the national conversation.”
The national top ten also showed a notable shift north, with Queensland securing two positions and both seeing strong rebounds.
Coorparoo rose 9.1 per cent in value over the past year, while Broadbeach Waters rose 13.4 per cent, surpassing many of the better known postcodes on the screen.
Shane Hicks of Place Camp Hill says Coorparoo’s mix of units, family homes and prestige buildings explains the rising demand on and off screen.
Coorparoo’s diverse housing offering and strong buyer interest continue to elevate it to Queensland’s breakthrough reality TV suburb.
Place Camp Hill chief agent Shane Hicks said Coorparoo’s growing profile reflected a new era in Queensland’s ambitious market behavior.
“Coorparoo offers every rung of the ladder, from older detached units to prestigious single-family homes over $3 million, and buyers love that diversity,” Mr Hicks said.
“It is consistently one of Queensland’s most viewed suburbs because it offers so many ways for people to enter, stay or upgrade.”
Bayside Melbourne’s coastal character and manicured streetscape make it a favorite setting for renovation shows and prestige buyers.
Mr Hicks said the suburb’s appeal had been boosted by changing lifestyle patterns since Covid, as professional families sought suburbs with space, schools, height and transport links without the old pressures of postcode status.
“We attract medical professionals, business families and people looking for lifestyle and convenience,” he said.
“They pay a premium for the quality they can build in, because they have little time.
“If you renovate well in Coorparoo, you speak directly to buyers who are longing for something that is finished and functional. That is the new ambition value.”
Manly remains one of Australia’s most filmed coastal suburbs, with buyers chasing the lifestyle seen on national television. Photo: Jeremy Piper
The Place Camp Hill partner said Queensland’s version of prestige had evolved more in the past five years than in the previous 20 years.
“Historically, Brisbane’s leading suburbs have been Hamilton or Clayfield,” Mr Hicks said.
“But post-Covid, lifestyle and value have overtaken old-fashioned prestige. Places like Coorparoo and even Broadbeach Waters on the coast reflect where the ambition really lies: in liveability, in convenience, in how people want to spend their time.”
The combined national rankings show an ambitious split, with Melbourne still defining the country’s on-screen property identity, Sydney commanding the highest price premiums and Queensland increasingly defining what families and professionals want in their next home.
Australia’s top 10 reality shows
| Suburb | Stands | Median house price (12m) | 12 month change | Sales (12 months) | Median asking rent |
| South Melbourne | VIC | $1.43 million | -4.7 percent | 109 | $848 per week |
| Saint Kilda | VIC | $1.52 million | -2.5 percent | 62 | $850 per week |
| Richmond | VIC | $1.38 million | 0.0 percent | 271 | $825 per week |
| Bondi | N.S.W | $4.43 million | 16.6 percent | 24 | $1998 per week |
| Male | N.S.W | $5.08 million | 16.7 percent | 46 | $1950 per week |
| Vaucluse | N.S.W | $8.85 million | 3.5 percent | 99 | $3400 a week |
| Elsternwick | VIC | $1.95 million | 4.0 percent | 67 | $900 per week |
| Coorparoo | QLD | $1.80 million | 9.1 percent | 135 | $780 per week |
| Gisborne South* | VIC | $1.00 million | 2.6 percent | 182 | $650 per week |
| Broadbeach waters | QLD | $2.45 million | 13.4 percent | 149 | $1450 per week |
Source: PropTrack Market Trends, November 2025. The list was compiled based on the number of times an Australian television show filmed in a particular suburb between November 2015 and November 2025.
Sign up for the Herald Sun weekly property update. Click here to receive the latest news from the Victorian property market straight to your inbox.
MORE: New details revealed for the new $1.5 billion Footscray hospital
Pink supercar leads to wild TV reno ‘takeover’
Bunnings in, Woolies out: most and least trusted retailers named
david.bonaddio@news.com.au
#Top #Australian #suburbs #reality #films #revealed #realestate.com.au