Prices have risen rapidly in many affordable suburbs this year, but the list of suburbs with the strongest price growth is defined by one city’s remarkable comeback.
Most of the Australian suburbs where house prices rose the fastest this year were at the affordable end of the market, with all but one of the top 10 suburbs having an average house price of less than $1 million.
But six of the ten largest suburbs were concentrated in one capital city that has risen through the ranks and delivered outsized returns for investors after years of underperformance.
Darwin dominated this year’s list of suburbs where house prices rose the fastest – a significant turnaround after years of the city languishing towards the bottom of the house price growth chart.
Top 10 suburbs where house prices will rise fastest in 2025
| Suburb | Stands | Median value (AVM) | 12 months of growth | |
| 1 | Gray | NT | $582,000 | 46% |
| 2 | Mold | NT | $571,000 | 45% |
| 3 | Rangeway | WA | $382,000 | 42% |
| 4 | Woodroffe | NT | $618,000 | 41% |
| 5 | Spalding | WA | $461,000 | 39% |
| 6 | Port Pirie West | on | $287,000 | 38% |
| 7 | Director | NT | $607,000 | 38% |
| 8 | Bakwel | NT | $660,000 | 35% |
| 9 | Kindlow | WA | $1,000,000 | 34% |
| 10 | Salary | NT | $611,000 | 33% |
The list of fastest growing suburbs was topped by Gray, a suburb where values have risen by a whopping 46% in just twelve months.
The affordable suburb, with a median house price of $582,000, is in Darwin’s Palmerston region, which is being targeted by investors looking for cheap properties with high rental yields.
The data used PropTrack’s Automated Valuation Model (AVM) to determine a suburb’s average home or unit value.
Other suburbs in the Palmerston region, including Moulden, Woodroffe, Driver and Bakewell, also made the top 10 list, with price growth ranging from 34-45%.
Properties in the Palmerston region have some of the highest gross rental yields in the country, with low purchase prices and high weekly rents proving an attractive prospect for many investors.
Darwin’s property market hit a high in 2025, with values surpassing the previous peak in early 2022 and rising to new highs amid a shortage of homes on the market.
Investor growth drives price growth
REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty said the surge in buyer demand in Darwin was driven by both investors and first home buyers.
“Darwin has become an investor hotspot over the past year, with the NT seeing the number of new loan commitments made to investors double in the 12 months ending September, compared to the previous 12-month period,” she said.
“Investors aren’t the only buyers active in Darwin: new loans to first home buyers are up 46% in the NT, compared to the September 2025 and 2024 quarters. This was the strongest growth in loans to first home buyers in the past year.”
![Darwin house surrounded by greenery](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Increased demand from investors in Darwin has led to prices soaring in some affordable suburbs, such as Moulden. Image: realestate.com.au/sold
Darwin real estate agent and Monsoon Real Estate director Joshua Pucci said rapid price growth in some of Darwin’s cheapest suburbs had created challenging conditions for first home buyers.
“Investors were buying properties in those suburbs very cheaply, around $400,000,” he said. “Then the market started to rise and rose quite quickly.
“Local buyers are now looking to get a $600,000 loan in those suburbs using the 5% down payment system.
“For first-home buyers, these are the only real suburbs they can go to.”
Mr Pucci said ongoing infrastructure and mining projects in the Northern Territory meant there was a good outlook for Darwin’s property market in the coming year.
“It’s been a sleeping giant,” he said. “I think there’s still a lot of growth.”
Cheap homes in Rangeway in Geraldton are being refurbished and flipped by investors, driving up home values. Image: realestate.com.au/sold
Other suburbs that made the top 10 included Rangeway, a suburb of Geraldton in Western Australia, where affordable housing is regularly flipped by investors looking for a quick profit, and Spalding in the city’s north.
House prices also rose rapidly this year in South Australia’s Port Pirie West, as well as in Chidlow, a small town in the Perth Hills.
North Plympton in Adelaide’s south-west has seen the fastest unit price growth this year, with a value increase of 36% in 12 months.
Other top performers in the unit market include the inner Perth suburbs of Wembley, Osborne Park, Maylands and Mount Lawley, as well as the suburbs in Townsville and Rockhampton.
Top 10 suburbs where unit prices rose fastest in 2025
| Suburb | Stands | Median value (AVM) | 12 months of growth | |
| 1 | North Plympton | on | $775,000 | 36% |
| 2 | Bakwel | NT | $416,000 | 34% |
| 3 | Fransville | QLD | $438,000 | 34% |
| 4 | Wembley | WA | $535,000 | 34% |
| 5 | Osborne Park | WA | $618,000 | 33% |
| 6 | Maylands | WA | $643,000 | 32% |
| 7 | Mount Lawley | WA | $682,000 | 32% |
| 8 | Aitkenvale | QLD | $395,000 | 32% |
| 9 | Norman gardens | QLD | $445,000 | 32% |
| 10 | Rosslea | QLD | $376,000 | 32% |
These cities have seen some of the strongest home price growth in recent years, and as strong demand has spilled over into the housing market, some buyers have shifted their focus to more affordable housing.
“Overall, NT, WA and Queensland dominate when it comes to the best performing suburbs,” Ms Flaherty said.
“The more affordable suburbs in particular were the outliers, with affordability restrictions rewarding a growing number of buyers from many regions.”
Buyers are flocking to affordable pockets in big cities
Sydney’s main suburbs for house price growth were mainly in the more affordable west of the city, particularly in the Blacktown and Fairfield local government areas.
Eastern Creek and Tregear saw the fastest house price growth at 22%, followed by Bonnyrigg Heights, Wakeley and Whalan (+21%).
The average home value in Lethbridge Park in Sydney’s west has increased by 20% in the past year. Image: realestate.com.au/sold
Unit price growth followed a similar pattern, with Blacktown suburbs such as Ropes Crossing (+23%) and Lethbridge Park (+20%) scoring high.
But strong growth was also recorded in southern and eastern suburbs such as Sylvania (+26%), Edgecliff (+22%) and Engadine (+19%).
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Melbourne’s main suburbs for house price growth were concentrated in two key areas of the city.
In the north, the fastest growing suburbs include Coolaroo (+17%), Dallas (+16%), Meadow Heights and Campbellfield (both +15%).
In the south, Frankston North (18%) Carrum Downs (15%) made the fastest gains.
Property agent Mark Burke of OBrien Real Estate Frankston said both first and second home buyers were competing with investors for affordable homes in Frankston North.
“A lot of them are mom-and-pop investors,” he said. “They come from all over Australia, and now we have some national buyers sourcing here as well.”
Frankston North was one of Melbourne’s leading suburbs for price growth, with prices rising due to strong competition for affordable properties. Image: realestate.com.au/sold
Brisbane saw a similar situation, with many of the best suburbs for house price growth being in the more affordable Ipswich region in the city’s west, including One Mile (+28%), Wacol (+28%) and Dinmore (+27%).
But it was the southern suburbs with spacious, green properties such as Buccan (+31%) and Logan Village (+29%) that topped the list.
Ms Flaherty said extended incentives for first home buyers had helped support demand for cheaper properties.
“The Federal Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme, which allows all first home buyers to purchase within a price threshold with as little as a 5% deposit, is expected to further fuel price growth in the more affordable market segments,” she said.
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