Going up: the regional cities you should have bought in 12 months ago

Homeowners in the NSW regional cities of Newcastle and Wollongong have seen their property prices rise above most major capital cities in Australia.

At the same time, regional property prices in Victoria and nationally, are rising at a greater rate than the big cities according to the latest Cotality data.

And that has seen homebuyers in these regional cities in 2025 profit.

"We have started to see a slow down in the Sydney and Melbourne markets which have been losing a bit of steam through the month," said Cotiality head of research, Tim Lawless.

But it is a different story for areas outside the city in these states.

Moving ahead

"NSW and Victoria are two states where regional markets have really outperformed their capital city counterparts," Mr Lawless said.

Prices rose by 6.2 per cent in regional NSW, above the 5.1 per cent rise in Sydney home prices in 2025.

In Victoria, regional prices rose by 5.1 per cent above the Melbourne home price rise of 4.2 per cent over the same period.

In NSW it has been both more rural areas, along with major regional cities that have seen big growth in 2025.

"In NSW it is what you would describe as the more rural markets that are really driving the stronger growth trends," Mr Lawless said.

"Tamworth has risen 2.8 per cent in a month for October, and that is extreme, Wagga 2.7 per cent and Albury and Armidale have also seen strong growth."

He said that one of the main advantages of these rural markets is that they are coming from a very low price.

The strongest price growth in regional NSW, Tamworth after rises this year still has a median price o $540,000.

"It's a very affordable market," Mr Lawless said.

On the rise

Another standout in the state is the regional city of Newcastle, which has seen an 8.6 per cent rise in prices over the last 12 months leading to now have a hefty median dwelling price of $1.025 million.

Homes in Wollongong meanwhile, have risen by 6.7 per cent over the last 12 months taking them to $1.159 million.

Only Sydney, with a median dwelling value of $1.269 million, has a higher cost.

Mr Lawless said that over the past five years both regional cities had seen stronger population growth and stronger price growth.

"They're still very desirable especially when you've got a blend of liveability, commutability and to some extent afforadability, at least relative to Sydney," he said.

Newcastle-based buyers agent Chad Dunn of Acquired Property HQ said there had been strong growth in home prices in the city and surrounds.

"Newcastle city and fringe suburbs are now really $1 million plus suburbs," Mr Dunn said.

"Last year you could even buy houses in the inner city fringe areas like Mayfield and Lambton in the $800,000 to $900,000 range but now these are in the $900,000 to $1.1 million range."

He said first homebuyers had bee pushed out of the house market in inner Newcastle.

"First homebuyers now have no choice but to do with units or townhouses in these areas," he said.

For those looking to get into a house, the option was to go further afield to suburbs at the southern end of Lake Macquarie including Cooranbong and Bonnells Bay.

Regional rise

In Victoria, their have also been strong gains in more rural markets, along with some of the state's larger regional cities.

Mildura saw a strong 18.5 per cent growth in home prices over the last 12 months, taking its median price to $528,049.

Bendigo and Ballarat also saw much higher growth in prices than Melbourne.

Bendigo home prices have risen by 10.5 per cent in the last 12 months, with the median price now at $619,312. Ballarat median price is now $602,743 up 9.1 per cent in the last year.