They’re the suburbs where home prices have multiplied by up to 15 times over the past 30 years off the back of a whirlwind of monetary policy changes, soaring population growth and housing shortages.
Exclusive PropTrack data has revealed the Sydney suburbs with the fastest growing prices since 1995, shining a light on just how quickly the market has run away and why affordability remains so strained.
The top suburbs on the PropTrack list multiplied by up to 15 times from 1995
Ray White senior data analyst Atom Go Tian observed that the top performing suburbs were on opposite extremes - once affordable western suburbs or eastern suburbs that had already been pricey in the 1990s.
Glenwood, in the Blacktown area, was the fastest growing Sydney suburb over the 30 years, with the current dwelling median of $1.69m 15 times higher the $113,000 median in 1995.
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Prices in Cecil Hills and Mount Annan in Sydney’s southwest were about 14 times higher.
Eastern suburbs such as Bronte, Clovelly and Bellevue Hill also recorded significant growth, with current prices 11-13 times higher than in 1995.
Mr Go Tian said the high growth western suburbs were often locations that were semi-rural in the 1990s and were later heavily developed.
“Whereas inner city suburbs wouldn’t have seen such drastic changes,” he said.
“On the other end on the eastern suburbs, that mostly reflects the enduring desirability.”
REA Group economist Angus Moore said there were a variety of reasons some suburbs recorded such extreme price rises – from gentrification and redevelopment to growing appeal among cashed up buyers.
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Apartment for sale in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs Picture: Gaye Gerard
“Some already expensive areas became even more popular,” he said, adding that some people in these areas were earning significantly more income than 30 years ago, even when accounting for inflation.
Prices were also driven by high overseas migration. “(Sydney) loses more people than the rest of the country,” Mr Moore said. “Young families are frequently leaving for more affordable markets. Despite this headwind, the Sydney (population) is still growing because it attracts high overseas migration.
“Housing supply has not matched population growth. Sydney needs more housing and that’s put pressure on prices over many years.”
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Brenda and Barry Corrigan sold their home of 23 years in top growth suburb Glenwood for nearly six times the price they bought it for. Picture: Jonathan Ng
According to Mr Moore, supply shortages across major city markets coincided with a “structural” downward shift in interest rates. The RBA cash rate peaked at 17.5 per cent in early 1990 and steadily dropped over the decades until reaching a record low of 0.1 per cent in 2021.
Mr Moore said it was unlikely we will have this same level of growth again.
“Over the last 30 years, the structural decline in interest rates has been part of the reason prices have grown,” he said. “That structural decline has already happened and can’t happen again.
“The broader adjacent point to that is that price rises to some extent are in our control if we build more housing in places where people want to live.”
Glenwood vendor Brenda Corrigan this week sold her home of 23 years for just over $2m. She had bought the home for about $350,000 in 2002. She recalled buying a previous home in the area for $150,000 five years earlier.
“We were very surprised and very grateful, it was amazing,” she said.
“We just moved into the area because we wanted to build our own home and then it turned into a good community but the price of the house never really came into mind. But obviously the growth is amazing.”
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For sale signs around Blacktown. The suburb Glenwood in the area was the top performing.
Selling agent Shiv Nair of Ray White United Group grew up in the area and has been an agent in Glenwood for 13 years. “I’ve seen the market grow since becoming an agent,” he said, adding that buyers priced out of surrounding suburbs such as Bella Vista and Kellyville were coming to the area to get better value.
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