![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/sky-tower-at-night-Q5UCWC5Q2VFX3BZCKOIWME3T7I.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPerth and Brisbane, in particular, have seen a property price surge. Is that good news for Kiwi homeowners? Ed McKnight reports.<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s median house price has climbed to almost NZ$2 million in June 2026, according to Cotality. The median house price now sits at AU$1,579,396 AUD.<\/p>\n
For a typical house, that number makes even Auckland look cheap. The median sale price for a house in Auckland now stands at NZ$1,090,000.<\/p>\n
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It costs more than $1 million to buy an average house in our most expensive city. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n
But while Sydney\u2019s median house price grew 3.9% in the 12 months to May 2026, other cities are running even hotter. <\/p>\n
House prices in Perth climbed 24.5% over the last year, and in Brisbane they\u2019re up 19.5%.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s enough to leave many homeowners in New Zealand looking enviously across the ditch, not just at higher wages, but at a frothier housing market<\/a>.<\/p>\n But if Australian house prices boom, does that mean New Zealand is next?<\/p>\n The answer is not simple.<\/p>\n History suggests New Zealand often follows Australia\u2019s lead. However, a boom across the Tasman does not automatically mean Kiwi cities are about to take off in the same way.<\/p>\n Though what Australia’s housing market can tell us is something more useful. <\/p>\n Our economy often echoes that of our closest neighbour. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n Australia is ahead of us in the cycle<\/p>\n Australia didn’t experience the same extreme rollercoaster as New Zealand during Covid<\/a>.<\/p>\n Their house prices rose about 22% during the pandemic. In New Zealand, prices skyrocketed<\/a> by roughly 42%.<\/p>\n Kiwi homeowners might have felt great at the time, but it came with a downside. We had a bigger property boom. But we also experienced a larger house price correction<\/a>.<\/p>\n When interest rates started rising, New Zealand’s market had much further to fall. House prices nationally are still around 15% below their peak. In Auckland, they’re down more than 20%.<\/p>\n Graph shows Aussie recovery vs Kiwi flatline. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n Australia went through a smaller downturn, with house prices falling 13%. But they reached the recovery stage sooner, whereas the New Zealand housing market has gone through a series of false starts.<\/p>\n Migration and confidence are driving growth<\/p>\n Australia also has several tailwinds that New Zealand homeowners would love their country to enjoy.<\/p>\n Migration<\/a> is one of them.<\/p>\n At its peak, net migration was adding more than half a million people a year to Australia’s population, adding roughly 2%. That has since eased closer to 1%. <\/p>\n New Zealand also briefly had net migration<\/a>, adding about 2%, but today, that has fallen to roughly 0.5%.<\/p>\n The Australian economy has also proven more resilient.<\/p>\n Its unemployment rate is sitting at 4.3%, compared with New Zealand\u2019s 5.4%, and New Zealand\u2019s is still rising.<\/p>\n That gives Australian households more confidence, helps support lending, and makes buyers more willing to stretch to purchase a property.<\/p>\n House prices have risen by 24% in Perth. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n New Zealand and Australia tend to move together<\/p>\n New Zealand does not copy Australia\u2019s housing market exactly.<\/p>\n Though research from ASB found New Zealand and Australian house prices have often moved in similar directions. Typically, New Zealand lags Australia by six to nine months.<\/p>\n That makes Australia useful to watch.<\/p>\n Not because Sydney house prices directly push up Auckland house prices, but because both countries respond to many of the same forces: interest rates, migration, bank lending and confidence.<\/p>\n![\"Our](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nz-aussie-flags-SV7MDPTGOZB5XFWGO6NYW35Q2E.jpg\")
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