What the Sydney median buys - April 2025

By Rich Harvey, CEO & Founder, propertybuyer.com.au

A major player in property market metrics is median price. It’s used as a bellwether gauge of performance. Its upward or downward shifts are the foundation for major investment decisions along with thousands of articles and blogs.

But for the casual observer there’s often a disconnect between a location’s median price amount, and what it will actually buy in that market.

As such, I wanted to look at Sydney’s median house and unit price and give form to those figures by citing sales within the region that have traded at or around those medians.

Sydney’s medians

CoreLogic figures from early March show Sydney’s median house value is $1,464,132 which reflects a 12-month increase of 1.3%. Unit value medians have also risen to $855,538 after a 0.7% uptick.

It’s these kinds of numbers that have some property buyers, especially first home ones, looking to other capitals such as Brisbane, where the median house price is $977,381.

Even Melbourne’s -3.1% annual drop looks like an attractive alternative given its $916,763 median house price.

But buying a property based purely on a location’s median value is a flawed strategy. Your purchasing decisions should always be about the asset, or property itself, rather than what the statistics tell you is the norm for a region.

Property buying success depends on a lot more than median values. As I explained in a recent article on cash rates, real estate should be a long-term proposition, not a short-term speculation.

For example, two properties with the same current Sydney median of $1.464 million could have completely different locations, ages and structures. All these points will affect the property’s capital growth potential and its appeal to renters (which in turn will impact its rental yield).

So, while Sydney’s median prices are relatively high – and growing fast – what does this price actually buy, and where?

Sydney’s median house price

For this article, I’ve searched through Sydney’s March sold listings on realestate.com.au, for what the city’s $1.464 million house median and $855,538 unit and townhouse median will acquire.

Now, I’m at pains to say this is not necessarily a list of properties I endorse as good buys, but they do paint a realistic illustration of how those dollars materialise in brick and mortar. Any real estate purchase must be matched to the buyer’s specific needs and criteria. Onto the sale and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 49 Commodore Street, Newtown, 20 minutes south of the CBD, sold last month for $1.5 million. While in great condition, the house is on a narrow 139sqm site; however, its high price is clearly due to its great location.

49 Commodore Street, Newtown (source: realestate.com.au)

Meanwhile, a 3-2-2, two-storey house in Hurstville, around 30 months south-west of the CBD has sold for $1.45 million and is on 253sqm. For those seeking higher yields, this property at 22 & 22A Maslin Crescent, Quakers Hill, which just sold for $1.468 million and is about 45 minutes west of the CBD. It’s a dual-income property that has two separate residences as well as a location that as I recently explained, is in one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. This Torrens Title property – which comprises a separately tenanted, 4-2-1, double-storey house and a 3-2-2 single-level house – is already making a combined weekly rental income of $1315 for its owners.

22 & 22A Maslin Crescent, Quakers Hill (source: realestate.com.au)

Western Sydney is displaying signs of being at the beginning of a boom market with flight operations at the new Nancy Bird-Walton international airport set to begin next year. A wealth of other infrastructure and businesses are either already being built in the region – or that will soon begin – and with this growth comes excellent capital gains potential, rental yield and rising demand prospects.

Now, onto the attached housing.

Two of the three units and townhouses which sold for closest to the median price are small properties either in, or very close to, the CBD. This location alone ensures their popularity with renters while their long-term capital growth sure to increase.

The third is again located in Sydney’s outer western ring, and for its size and price, seemed a very good opportunity for the right kind of buyer. The 4-2-1 townhouse at 584/86 Princess Street, Werrington is about an hour’s drive west of the CBD and sold for $860,000. For this price, the buyers purchased a brand-new terrace property which, while further from the city, is in a great area.

5/84-86 Princess Street, Werrington (source: realestate.com.au)

Yet, in a perfect example of location and property compromise, a 2-2-1 apartment around 20 minutes west of the CBD, in Sydney Olympic Park, also sold for $860,000. Officially part of Greater Western Sydney, and the suburb – as its name suggests – was developed for the city’s 2000 Olympic Games. It still features seven sports and entertainment areas plus 430ha of parklands. Then there’s 2507/79-81 Berry Street, North Sydney which is a 1-1-1 configurated apartment in North Sydney’s 34-floor, 1985-built, The Alexander building. The unit sold for $859,000. This price is not just due to the apartment’s CBD location either with its 25th floor position giving residents gorgeous harbour views. In addition, there’s plenty of on-site “resort-style” amenities.

2507/79-81 Berry Street, North Sydney (source: realestate.com.au)

There’s plenty of property options throughout Australia’s major markets which are at or below their local median price – but not all assets are the same. Finding the right kind of home with the fundamentals to ensure long term upside takes experience and skill. If you’re eager to acquire quality real estate that sits in the median-price pocket, then reach out to our Propertybuyer team.

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