They’re the Sydney suburbs multiple housing booms forgot – the pockets where homes are selling for similar prices to a decade ago or, in some cases, an average of over $100,000 less.
Bombshell analysis has revealed multiple suburbs where home prices are cheaper than in 2015 and even more where the increase over the 10 years was less than $50,000 – with growth below the rate of inflation.
Most of the suburbs were concentrated in the Parramatta region and around commuter hubs in the northwest, which have been a magnet for apartment developers in recent years.
The Parramatta region suburbs included Rosehill, where the median price of units has dropped $88,000 since 2015, and Ermington, where the median unit price fell by nearly $6000.
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A unit in this Concord West block recently sold for $619,000. The 2015 price was $660,000.
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Concord West, sandwiched between the heavily developed Strathfield and Rhodes areas, recorded an $80,000 drop in unit prices over the decade, according to the PropTrack Market Trends data.
Sydney’s biggest unit price fall since 2015 was recorded in northwest suburb Rouse Hill, where units are now selling for an average of $131,000 cheaper than a decade ago.
Experts explained unit values in these areas fell because of an oversupply of units, coupled with lacklustre demand for high-rise apartment living.
With little competition for listings from other home seekers, buyers could often negotiate prices down and score properties for below what the vendors paid.
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Sold for $31k less than 2014 price: a unit in this James Ruse Dr block in Rosehill sold recently for $484,000. The price paid in 2014 was $515,000.
An apartment in this Weston St block in Rosehill recently sold for $30,000 less than the price paid in 2015.
Buyer’s agent Lloyd Edge said home seekers who bought some of the older unit stock in these suburbs could score “great deals”, adding that there was a catch.
“If you’re buying for your own use for the long term and you’re not trying to use the unit as a stepping to one day getting a house, you can get some of the units cheaply,” he said.
“What tends to happen in these areas is they build too many apartments all at once. You could have 200, 300 units in one building and three buildings like it are constructed at the same time.
“Each unit will be quite similar to the next and because there was so much choice for buyers, the prices haven’t gone up for years.”
REA Group economist Anne Flaherty said the lacklustre price growth in these areas illustrated why more housing supply was needed across Australia.
REA Group economist Anne Flaherty said demand had to outweigh supply for prices to rise and many of the Sydney areas where prices were level or lower with those in 2015 lacked this.
“Supply is important,” she said. “Suburbs like this are a classic example of why increasing the supply of homes is the solution to the housing crisis.
“In those areas where we are building a lot of homes, price growth has been a lot slower.”
Housing Industry Association executive director for planning Mike Hermon said more housing was urgently needed to address the crisis but he said a “balanced” approach was vital.
A unit in this Ermington block recently sold for $45k below the 2015 price.
Another unit in this nearby complex in Ermington sold in 2025 for $727,000. This was $24,000 below than $751,000 paid in 2015.
“Current zoning laws are outdated and restrictive, often leaving Australians with limited choices between sprawling houses or towering apartment blocks,” Mr Hermon said.
“Gentle density bridges this gap by supporting middle-ground housing options like townhouses and small-scale apartments.”
HOME PRICES CHANGES SINCE 2015
| Suburb | Current median unit price | 10-year change | Avg. price difference |
| Rouse Hill | $657,500 | -16.67% | -$131,500 |
| Concord West | $740,000 | -9.76% | -$80,000 |
| Mount Colah | $631,000 | -9.70% | -$67,750 |
| Rosehill | $515,000 | -5.33% | -$29,000 |
| Ermington | $735,000 | -0.74% | -$5,500 |
| Mortlake | $840,000 | 1.20% | $10,000 |
| North Rocks | $645,000 | 1.57% | $10,000 |
| Schofields | $595,000 | 3.48% | $20,000 |
| Ryde | $700,000 | 2.94% | $20,000 |
| Harris Park | $470,000 | 4.68% | $21,000 |
| Kingsgrove | $655,000 | 3.97% | $25,000 |
| Parramatta | $625,000 | 4.52% | $27,000 |
| Berala | $490,000 | 6.52% | $30,000 |
| Mays Hill | $595,000 | 6.25% | $35,000 |
| North Ryde | $830,000 | 5.08% | $40,100 |
| Greater Sydney | $790,000 | 28% | $173,200 |
Source: PropTrack
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