What the Median Price Buys You Around Australia

The housing market continues to lose steam with falling property prices, low clearance rates and sparsely attended open house days opening the door to opportunistic shoppers, particularly first home buyers.

Median prices within Australia's most sought after city, Sydney, fell 9.9 per cent last year with the average time to sell climbing to more than 70 days.

The median dwelling value in Sydney, one of the most expensive capital cities in the country, dropped to around $789,000 in February after peaking at $895,000 during the property boom.

The cooling property market has now made finding the right property cheaper, less competitive and easier to negotiate the right price, but where are the bargains to be had at the middle of the market?

Related: Property Market Woes No Boon for Affordability

Sydney

Property valuation and advisory company Herron Todd White's latest report, aiming to identify the latest trends across Australia, has drilled into the current state of median prices.

“Buying at the median has always been a smart option for savvy owner-occupiers and investors,” the report says.

“This helps reduce the impact if the market does shift, as we have seen in recent times when inferior and less desirable properties are hit hardest when demand dries up.”

In the eastern suburbs, it is still very difficult to find any dwelling under $1 million with median prices in Surry Hills where houses sit at $1.4 million and units at $840,000.

A two-bedroom, one-bathroom attached terrace in the sought after inner-city suburb, with no parking and sitting on just 57sq m of land sold in November last year for $950,000.

Meanwhile, 60 kilometres from the Sydney CBD in Harrington Park a five-bedroom, two-bathroom, double garage house with a pool, sitting on a large 708sq m block sold in December for $960,000.

Melbourne

It was a similar story in Melbourne, where the median was $840,000 at the end of last year.

Inner-city suburbs, such as Richmond, currently draws a median price of $1.3 million, with a circa 1950 three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on 268 square metres selling recently for $1.4 million at $5,223 per square metre.

The western suburbs, having seen substantial growth since 2017, are currently a hotspot for buyers searching for a house for below the Melbourne median price.

The median on a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, double garage house on a 418sq m allotment in Point Cook, 25km from the CBD, would be approximately $680,000.

Meanwhile, in Tarneit the median on a similar house comprising three-bedrooms, two-bathrooms, double garage on 425 square metres, currently sits at $560,000.

Brisbane

Brisbane’s urban sprawl contributes to a relatively low median house price of $550,000 compared to other east coast capitals.

Areas such as Chermside, Nundah, Kedron and Stafford Heights where original-condition, post-war homes through to 1980s era dwellings provide

In Kedron, a three-bedroom, one-bathroom, single-car home of circa 1965 house is listed for $549,000.

Middle-ring suburbs such as Holland Park, Annerley, Carina, and Carina Heights providing options.

A 450sq m property at 28 Orana Street in Carina is on the market for offers over $500,000.

Canberra’s median at about $800,000, can guaruntee buyers a four-bed, two-bathroom home on the fringes of the ACT, 20-minutes drive from the city centre.

Hobart has remained red hot, with the median for houses at $680,000 and units pricing at $637,000.

A renovated three-bedroom, two- bathroom, Federation era cottage with modern wiring and plumbing in Lenah Valley recently sold for $683,000.

Adelaide's median for a house currently sits at $480,000 while the median of $505,000 for the wider Perth area can guarantee buyers opportunities in Munster, Edgewater Osborne Park and Harrisdale.

St James, a suburb situated seven kilometres south-east of Perth's CBD, has a median house price of $525,000, just above Perth’s median.

The St James median house price has remained unchanged since the September quarter 2018.