More homes than ever now cost more than $1 million Aussie dollarbucks.

That’s just one of the painful records to come out of the latest work from property data and dream-killing firm CoreLogic.

A record number of Australians spent a cool mill or more to get their dirty mitts on a home in the past year; that’s one takeaway from CoreLogic’s latest Million Dollar Market report.

In the 12 months to May, there was also a record 596,733 home sales in Australia.

That’s up a record 19.8% on the previous year.

Of these 23.8% sold for $1 million or more, another bloody record.

Seems we can pin the record result for both the number of sales and the number of million-dollar results on our pandemically-bullish economy and our insane thirst for property during the last part of 2021, says CoreLogic’s report author Kaytlin Ezzy.

“High consumer sentiment, tight advertised supply, and low interest rates fuelled strong home value growth throughout 2021, resulting in a new record high annual growth rate of 22.4% over the 12 months to January,” Ezzy said.

Two-speed market

“Since January, dwelling values across Sydney and Melbourne have started to decline, while values have continued to rise across South Australia and Queensland.

“More recently, Canberra, which had previously recorded many months of consecutive growth, recorded its first falls in dwelling values in some years in May,” she added.

But those regional markets did bloody well too, growing faster and stronger through the pandemic to-date compared to capital cities.

Hard to swallow, but nationally regional values are up 41.4% since March 2020 compared with the 21.8% rise across the combined capital cities.

Byron Bay houses – how’s this – recorded the highest median value in regional NSW at $2,741,847.

That is a circa $400K rise on this time last year.

Ezzy says in regional Victoria, 22 house markets made the million-dollar list, of which most were in Geelong, where Aireys Inlet houses had the highest median at $2,189,874.

Meanwhile Sydney suburbs made up 26.3% of the new million-dollar markets, which Ezzy says is surprising no-one at all, since the average cost of a place in Sydney topped $1 million back in May last year.

Winning the most millionairey-home was the obscenely significant $60 million sale of the six-bedroom, six-bathroom, six times $10mn waterfront shack on 3 Lindsay Avenue in Sydney’s Dahhhling Point.

What the bloody hell are we going to do?

On the plus side,  demand, sales and median values have all eased gradually over the recent months as global economic uncertainly and domestic affordability start to bite.

This week, CoreLogic says the May data showed Australia bloody recorded its first monthly fall in national values since forever, on the back of high  inflation and rising rates and this should see budgets and demand tighten over the medium-term.

“As the market moves into the downward phase of the cycle it’s likely a number of the recent entrants to the million-dollar list will see their median values decline below the $1 million mark,” she said.

Sydney and NSW

In the year to May , over half of sales in Sydney had a sales value of $1 million or higher (51.9%). Bellevue Hill in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs is the most expensive house market, both across Sydney and nationally, with a current median value of $8,024,682.

Across regional NSW,  154 markets (150 house and 4 unit) have a median value at or above $1 million, more than double the number recorded this time last year. The majority of the new million-dollar markets are concentrated on the outskirts of Sydney, in the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven (18), Illawarra (16) and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie (23) regions.

Melbourne and Victoria

Brighton, in Melbourne’s Inner South, recorded the highest median value across Melbourne, at $3,778,312, while Geelong’s Aireys Inlet house market ($2,189,874) is the most expensive in regional Victoria. 34.6% of Melbourne sales recorded over the year to May had a sales price at or above $1 million, up from 28.0% the year prior.

BrisVegas and QLD

‘Cos everyone bloody loves the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Queensland was the only state to have a similar number of million-dollar markets in both its capital city (122) and its rest of state area (107).

Ezzy reckons, thanks to its relative affordability and a steady stream of interstate migration, values have surged across Queensland, the million dollar markets way more than doubling across BrisVegas(up 139.2%) and regional QLD (up 127.7%).

Teneriffe ($2,873,947) maintained its position as Brisbane’s most expensive house market.

Adelaide and SA

As of May, Adelaide also doubled the number of mill-dollar markets on last year. Over the year to May, 13.0% of sales recorded a sale price at or above $1 million.

Unley Park in the Central Hills region maintained its position as Adelaide’s most expensive house market, with a current median value of $2,129,770, up approximately $420,000 from the year prior.

Perth and WA

Across Perth, 56 house markets made the million-dollar list in May, up from 43 the year prior. Nine of Perth’s top 10 most expensive house markets were located in the city’s Inner region, where Dalkeith recorded the highest median value at $2,965,588.

Hobart and Tassie

Over the 12 months to May, 19.3% of sales across Hobart had a sales price at or above $1 million, up from 8.3%.

Houses in Sandy Bay recorded the highest median value in May, at $1,402,803, followed by Acton Park at $1,316,329. No markets across regional Tasmania recorded a median value above $1 million.

The ACT

Across the ACT, 52 house markets made the million-dollar list in May, more than double the 28 from the year prior. While no unit markets made the list, 62.7% of ACT’s house markets did.

The portion of million-dollar sales rose over the year to May, from 16.0% in 2021 to 28.9% in 2022.