The surprising farming region with the hottest property market in the country

An unsuspecting inland region known for its fertile soils and vast farmland has quietly risen to the top of the property ladder, taking the title as Australia’s hottest property market from other booming hotspots.

It highlights a growing trend of buyers moving further beyond the major cities to significantly cheaper areas, as the financial barriers to purchasing a property continue to get higher.

A yearslong boom in smaller and mid-sized capital cities like Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and – more recently – Darwin, has pushed capital city buyers further out, either to the outer fringes or to nearby satellite cities that are still within relatively easy commute of a capital city.

Some booming hotspots have even leapfrogged Australia's priciest capital, Sydney, and Brisbane’s unit market is quickly closing in on the harbour city.

Townships like Dalby in Queensland's Darling Downs-Maranoa have seen prices surge in the past 12 months. Picture: realestate.com.au

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While momentum has cooled across the country in recent months as a result of rising interest rates, budget reforms, geopolitical uncertainty and a typical winter lull - this demand has not gone away.

But data from PropTrack suggests affordability constraints are prompting many buyers to look even further afield, too.

Queensland’s vast Darling Downs-Maranoa region, west of Toowoomba, now leads the rest of the country for home price growth, up 23% to a median of $570,000 over the year to June.

That puts it ahead of Perth and WA’s Mandurah – regions that previously held the title.

Parts of this vast region sit 290km from Brisbane – about 3.5 hours by road – while the Maranoa end stretches to 525km and six hours.

The area includes townships like Roma, Dalby, Goondiwindi and Warwick, which serve as regional hubs for industries spanning agriculture and cattle production, energy and specialised manufacturing.

At a suburb level, home prices have jumped by as much as a third over the past 12 months, though with many homes still sitting around the $500,000 to $600,000 mark, the region remains far more affordable than nearby Toowoomba.

Home prices remain affordable across the region, though grand family homes like 155-157 Oakwood Street South, Dalby can fetch more than $1m. Picture: realestate.com.au

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Toowoomba, a vibrant and rapidly growing inland city roughly 130km west of Brisbane, currently ranks fifth in the country with prices up more than 18% over the past 12 months.

Quarterly price growth data shows that many suburbs in these hot regions have continued to climb in the past three months.

Jump ahead to see the list.

Small cities, big gains

The addition of two newcomers in the top 10 property market rankings this month could signal the start of a new wave of growth in areas not easily connected to a major capital.

South Australia’s outback – a vast region spanning more than 600,000 square kilometres through the outback and northern Flinders Ranges – has seen prices jump close to 20% over the past 12 months, though the median house price remains below $400,000.

South Australia's outback region has recorded strong annual growth, with values in Whyalla Playford surging 18% over the past 12 months, and quarterly figures suggest the trend is continuing. Picture: realestate.com.au

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In New South Wales, booming demand and a shortage of supply in regional inland cities like Tamworth have driven up home prices across New England and North West region by almost 20%. Despite this, the median dwelling values remains around $500,000.

Tamworth was nominated in this year's realestate.com.au Hot 100 by two separate property experts who said the country music capital is facing its lowest volume for more than 15 years, in a city of more than 65,000 people across the broader region.

The PropTrack data captures median dwelling values across Australia’s more-than 100 SA4 regions.

Armidale in the NSW New England and North West region has recorded strong price growth in the past 12 months, with momentum continuing in the most recent quarter. Picture: realestate.com.au

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These areas – defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics – are usually larger than a local government area and have a population of between 100,000 and 500,000 people. Breaking it down this way, it provides somewhat of a heatmap on the current property hotspots at a more granular level than capital cities vs. rest of the state, and broader than suburbs.

Hot regions continue to show strength

Market conditions have softened considerably compared to 12 months ago, when the RBA was embarking on a rate cutting cycle and a fear-of-missing-out was fuelling home price growth across the country.

Annual comparisons provide the most reliable view of price changes, but quarterly price changes do suggest this inland boom could still have more room to run.

At a suburb level, every single suburb in the Darling Downs/Maranoa region (that had enough property sales to get a reliable measure of price growth) saw prices grow over the past three months.  

Top 5 suburbs across the Darling Downs – Maranoa region in the June quarter:

It was the same case in Toowoomba – led by units in Drayton, Middle Ridge and Harlaxton where prices have risen by as much as 9% over the past three months - and the only suburb to see prices fall across South Australia’s Outback over the past quarter was Streaky Bay, which sits around 300 km north-west of Port Lincoln.

Top 5 suburbs across the Toowoomba region in the June quarter:

In NSW’s New England and North West, price growth has remained strong around Tamworth and Armidale in recent months.  

Top 5 suburbs across the New England and North West region in the June quarter:

Federal budget changes that recently passed through parliament mean negative gearing is no longer an option for investors purchasing an established property, potentially making higher yielding properties more attractive to those unable to take on the full financial hit of a negatively geared property.

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While property experts warn the strategy can prove risky – with extended periods of low or no capital growth more likely – the data signals this shift could already be playing out.