The median price of a home in Australia has spiked by about $230,000 during the past five years, new research released today shows.

House prices rose by 39.1 per cent in the five years to March 2025, according to CoreLogic’s April Housing Chart Pack.

While the increase recorded over this period of time is modest in percentage terms compared with the historic peaks of the late 1980s and early 2000s, the rise is much higher in dollar terms.

“While around half the increases seen during the previous peaks, when adjusted to the current median value, the rise seen over the past five years is equivalent to a roughly $230,000 increase,” said CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy.

“In comparison, the dollar rise experienced over the five years to December 2003 was roughly $90,000 less, at $140,000, while the March 1989 increase was equivalent to a $60,000 increase in the median.”

The CoreLogic research reveals Australian home values rose 0.7 per cent over the past quarter, with capital cities up 0.5 per cent and values in the regions rising 1.4 per cent.

There were 42,553 sales nationally in March, taking the rolling 12-month count to 528,212.

While the figure was 2.1 per cent below the recent peak record in December (539,743), the annual measure is up 4.6 per cent compared with last year, and 4.1 per cent above the previous five-year average.

CoreLogic also found properties are staying on the market longer, with the national median time to sell increasing from 30 days a year ago to 40 days in the first quarter of this year.

Ezzy said the 39.1 per cent growth in values seen over the past five years reflects strong underlying housing demand, tight supply and a relatively resilient economy.

“Outside of a few short months of declines, values have seen strong upward pressure over the past five years, driven by low stock levels and increased demand.

“But this growth cycle remains moderate compared to earlier periods, when financial deregulation, strong economic growth and favourable demographic shifts helped fuel remarkable value growth.”

Looking ahead, CoreLogic says new listings are forecast to peak next week in the run-up to Easter, before easing during the winter.