Upper Sturt, Adelaide, Kangaroo Ground, Melbourne worst suburbs to buy a house in Australia

The most in-demand suburbs for buyers in Australia have been revealed as the market continues to lag across the board.

The insight comes as part of PropTrack’s latest figures, which show where homes have as many as 500 potential buyers battling for each property.

Numbers from the real estate appraiser revealed some suburbs have seen demand surge, as sellers across the country hesitate about putting houses on the market.

The most in demand suburbs nationally for houses include Upper Sturt in Adelaide with 536 potential buyers per listing, Kangaroo Ground in Melbourne with 484 potential buyers and Medindie in Adelaide with 477 potential buyers per listing.

Others in the top 10 were Gruyere (376) and Belgrave South (363) in Melbourne’s outer suburbs, Chandler (351) in Brisbane along with Mylor (333) and Summerdown (328) in Adelaide.

The top-three most in demand suburbs nationally for houses include Upper Sturt in Adelaide with 536 potential buyers per listing, Kangaroo Ground in Melbourne with 484 potential buyers and Medindie in Adelaide with 477 potential buyers per listing 

For comparison, the median number of potential buyers per listing nationally is 66 for houses and 48 for units.

PropTrack Economist Anne Flaherty said where the suburbs are located along with their stable prices make each an attractive option for buyers.

‘First of all, these suburbs in and of themselves tend to be really attractive locations. The second part is to do with that supply and demand piece,’ she said.

‘So in areas where we’re seeing a limited supply of properties being listed for sale and being an attractive suburb, we’re seeing a really high number of potential buyers per listing.’

However, Ms Flaherty said not all Australian suburbs had such hot demand despite an overall drop in available properties.

‘What was the interesting thing, if we look at the market as a whole, demand is definitely down from its peaks at the same time last year,’ she said.

‘Having said that, the total number of properties being listed for sale has decreased in most locations as well.’

‘Another factor is to do with affordability. So, you know, we’ve seen property prices fall from their peaks, but they haven’t fallen anywhere close to the level that interest rates have impacted how much people can borrow.

‘The first homebuyers have been really hard hit by this set of conditions because they’re still having to, you know, generate a much larger deposit but at the same time, their borrowing capacity has been reduced – that’s leading more buyers groups in certain areas as well.’

The total number of properties listed for sale in Sydney is down by almost 20 per cent compared to the total average for the past five years, according to PropTrack data.

Sydney’s total number of properties listed for sale has dropped by almost 20 per cent, while Melbourne saw a downturn of 5.99 per cent  in property prices over the last 12 months

In Melbourne, prices are now down 5.99 per cent over the past 12 months and remain 6.09 per cent below their March 2022 peak.

A similar story is evident in the Brisbane market, with prices 3.49 per cent below their peak recorded in April 2022, with Perth prices now just 0.24 per cent below their peak.

Home prices in Hobart fell 0.29 per cent in February and are now 4.09 per cent below their peak recorded in April 2022.

Adelaide, the strongest performing capital city market over the past year, witnessed home prices rising to a fresh peak, lifting a further 0.44 per cent in February.